Philosophy and Science Dialogue: Consciousness
Frontiers of Philosophy in China September 25, 2018 DOI: 10.3868/s030-007-018-0026-1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary Peer reviewed |
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| Key points | The work is a dialogue between philosopher Owen Flanagan and scientist Giulio Tononi examining whether consciousness admits of scientific explanation, what form such a theory must take to explain its subject matter, and which entities a theory might recognize as conscious. The abstract states the questions discussed but does not report the participants' conclusions. |
Abstract
This is a dialogue between a philosopher and a scientist about the scientific explanation of consciousness. What is consciousness? Does it admit of scientific explanation? If so, what must a scientific theory of consciousness be like in order to provide us with a satisfying explanation of its explanandum? And what types of entities might such a theory acknowledge as being conscious? Philosopher Owen Flanagan and scientist Giulio Tononi weigh in on these issues during an exchange about the nature and scientific explanation of consciousness.