The problem of unreportable awareness.
Progress in Brain Research 2009 DOI: 10.1016/s0079-6123(09)17701-4 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that consciousness science faces an unresolved tension between objectivist views, which hold that reporting endows consciousness with public accessibility, and subjectivist views, which hold that consciousness exists independently of report and remains beyond direct observation. The paper uses examples from clinical neurology, cognitive neuroscience, and philosophy to open up the question of what consciousness science is actually studying. |
Abstract
We tend to regard consciousness as a fundamentally subjective phenomenon, yet we can only study it scientifically if it has objective, publicly visible, manifestations. This creates a central, recurring, tension in consciousness science which remains unresolved. On one 'objectivist' view, consciousness is not merely revealed but endowed by the process of reporting which makes it publicly accessible. On a contrasting 'subjectivist' view, consciousness, per se, is independent of the possibility of report, and indeed will always remain beyond the reach of direct observation. I shall explore this tension with examples drawn from clinical neurology, cognitive neuroscience and philosophy. The underlying aim of the paper is to open up the simple but profoundly difficult question that lurks in the background of consciousness science: what is it that are studying?
Citations in the library
Cites 5
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- Two neural correlates of consciousness Trends in Cognitive Sciences January 13, 2005
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