Correlation, causation, constitution
Benjamin Kozuch, Uriah Kriegel
Advances in Consciousness Research June 17, 2015 DOI: 10.1075/aicr.92.17koz (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that a philosophy of consciousness is needed because the young science of consciousness lacks a guiding paradigm and has been beset by methodological, conceptual, and philosophical confusion that philosophy should help regiment, and because even a perfect neural correlate of consciousness would leave open the metaphysical question of whether the correlation indicates a deeper relation between the two. |
Abstract
Why is there need for a philosophy of consciousness, in addition to the science of consciousness? For two reasons: first, as a young science operating as yet under no guiding paradigm, the science of consciousness has been subject to considerable confusion regarding its methodological, conceptual, and philosophical foundations, and it is philosophy’s mandate to address such confusion in an attempt to regiment scientific practice; second, the identification of a neural feature that correlated perfectly with consciousness would still leave open a certain metaphysical question, namely, whether that correlation is indicative of a deeper, more intimate relation between the two? In this paper, we offer an opinionated overview of the philosophy of consciousness as it addresses these two dimensions of consciousness research.
Citations in the library
Cited by 5
- A Map of Consciousness Studies: Questions and Approaches. Frontiers in Psychology 2020
- A new low: Reassessing (and revising) the local recurrency theory of consciousness The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science September 22, 2023
- Neuroscience undermines the higher-order theorists’ preferred solution to the targetless HOT problem Philosophical Psychology February 15, 2026
- Methodological foundations for locating the neural correlates of low-level visual experience. Frontiers in Psychology 2026
- An embarrassment of richnesses: the PFC isn’t the content NCC Neuroscience of Consciousness June 26, 2024
Cites 5
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