Meaning Representationalism: between Representationalism and Qualia Realism
Grazer Philosophische Studien November 7, 2016 DOI: 10.1163/18756735-09302005 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that conscious character is identical with patterns of neural activation that are referentially or representationally alive, rather than with intrinsic neural properties or with any specific represented property. The author calls this position "meaning representationalism" and illustrates it with the example of conscious redness as a neural activation pattern recruited by natural selection to represent a distal property. |
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to offer a new view of the key relation between the content and the conscious character of visual experience. The author aims to support the following claims. First, the author rejects the qualia realist claim that conscious character is an intrinsic, nonrepresentational property of visual experience, for example, a pattern of activation of neurons. However, the author also rejects the rival widespread representationalist claim that the conscious character of visual experience is identical to, or supervenes on, any specific property represented by visual experience. The positive proposal is the following. Conscious character is identical with those patterns of activation of neurons that are referentially or representationally alive. Conscious redness, for example, is a pattern of activations of neurons that is created normally only when brains of physical duplicates come in visual contact with some distal property and this pattern of activation is recruited by natural selection to represent that property. This is called meaning representationalism.