How to study consciousness scientifically.

J R Searle

doi:10.1098/rstb.1998.0346

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How to study consciousness scientifically.

J R Searle

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Abstract

The neurosciences have advanced to the point that we can now treat consciousness as a scientific problem like any other. The problem is to explain how brain processes cause consciousness and how consciousness is realized in the brain. Progress is impeded by a number of philosophical mistakes, and the aim of this paper is to remove nine of those mistakes: (i) consciousness cannot be defined; (ii) consciousness is subjective but science is objective; (iii) brain processes cannot explain consciousness; (iv) the problem of 'qualia' should be set aside; (v) consciousness is epiphenomenal; (vi) consciousness has no evolutionary function; (vii) a causal account of consciousness is necessarily dualistic; (viii) science is reductionistic, so a scientific account of consciousness would show it reducible to something else; and (ix) an account of consciousness must be an information processing account.

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Biological Evolution Brain Consciousness Humans Models, Neurological Neurosciences Philosophy Journal Article

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J R Searle. 1998-11-29. How to study consciousness scientifically.. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1998.0346

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