Questions tagged [consciousness]
Consciousness, and related notions like sentience and self-awareness, denote the capacity of certain organisms to express recognition of their own presence in the world.
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How can visual and other sensory information be transmitted by genes?
As we learned from those viral videos –look up “cat cucumber” if you haven’t seen them–, cats seem to be hard-wired to be scared of cucumbers and other objects that resemble snakes.
Behavioural ...
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How to tell if a transferred consciousness is authentic
In star trek when people get on the transporter they pop out somewhere. But how do we know if they are not just clones. Is there a test that actually exist in real life that can actually tell if a ...
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‘Libet’s delay’ and the philosophy of mind and free will
If you are not familiar with Libet delay and the neuroscience of free will, you can read it below. It seems philosophers are interested in the topic since it relates to the philosophical notions of ...
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What makes consciousness different for two different people?
I have a brain (A) that consists of certain atoms in a specific combination (C). If I destroy this brain, and afterwards regenerate the brain with the same atoms and combination (C), is this still ...
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What does Searle mean by "intentionality" and "causal processes"?
I am struggling to understand the meaning of some of the terminology John Searle uses in "Mind, brains, and programs." For example, right before "IV. The combination reply," he ...
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Question about the difference between qualitative and quantitative reasoning
I've been reading what Wikipedia has to say about qualitative and quantitative reasoning and I had a question about the difference. Are qualitative properties always abstractions of quantitative ...
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Why is it impossible for a program or AI to have semantic understanding?
relatively new to philosophy.
This question is based on John Searle's Chinese Room Argument.
I find it odd that his main argument for why programs could not think was that because programs could only ...
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Phenomenology of consciousness/learning/understanding the every-day?
I am a machine learning scientist who watched a lecture series on phenomenology. I feel like, since it is the study of consciousness’ structures and how they behave over time, it might have utility in ...
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Does being able to train your brain mean or logically imply that you are distinct from your brain?
While reading Why I am not a Buddhist by Evan Thompson, I came across this quote:
The category mistake is tied to a fundamentally unstable way of thinking about who you are in relation to your brain. ...
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What is the correct consideration to give a hypothesis that a bacterium or a blade of grass has consciousness? Or the Sun?
In his 2021 book "Being You", Anil Seth writes:
"There is something it is like to be me, something it is
like to be you, and probably something it is like to be a sheep, or a
dolphin. .....
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If consciousness is unified, shouldn't nervous systems be unified?
If we grant that there is one consciousness per nervous system (or maybe 2 if we consider hemispheres) then it seems plausible to me that the nervous system (or brain or body) must be unified in some ...
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How can brain know about consciousness if it can't be observed outside ourselves?
Consciousness is subjective.
We can't observe consciousness outside ourselves.
I can't say whether another person is conscious or not, I just assume they are because they are similar to me.
Likewise, ...
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Does determinism prevent rationality?
If hard determinism is true, and our thoughts are merely the results of a causal chain of atomic interactions, are reason and logic illusory?
This matter has likely been discussed in another thread, ...
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What are the strong and contemporary philosophical arguments for believing in other minds? [duplicate]
What are the historically most cited and used arguments that philosophers have made for believing that other people have individual minds and feelings contrary to the assertions of solipsists?
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What does Integrated information theory tell us about non-biological consciousness? [closed]
What does IIT have to say about consciousness in rocks, stars or atoms?
Thank you!
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Is it the job of physics to explain consciousness? [closed]
Is explaining consciousness in the realm of physics?
Detailed question:
We know that consciousness exists. Or rather, I know that I have it. The rest of you may not be conscious, but I know that I am, ...
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Why did Schopenhauer think Will is the inner nature of things instead of just consciousness or experience?
Will, or volition seems as a quite complex process. But Schopenhauer claims it is the foundation of all things in the world, including rocks, electrons or photons. That seems quite implausible.
There ...
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Are physicalists at all in agreement what happens to conciousness if the rate of time is changed?
For the sake of ease of imagination, maybe it's good to use a Machian defintion of time, time is the relative configuration of all physical bodies+fields. I also want to be agnostic about the flow of ...
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Is this how the static block universe, arrow of time, and conscious experience hang together?
In the static block universe we posit a view-from-nowhere perspective.
When taking such a vantage, the thermodynamic arrow of time does not establish a preferred ontological direction of time. There ...
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Critique of those missing the Hard Problem?
From everything I've ever seen about the “Hard Problem of Consciousness”, the issue is that materialists and physicalists presume a different question and answer that one instead.
I feel like the two ...
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What is the philosophical term for when a property is emergent from an underlying structure?
There is a term that refers to this, which I can't find anywhere, but I remember it from studies of consciousness and the brain.
For example, "consciousness is ____ on the physical brain".
...
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Is anybody aware of studies that have proved objective ethics?
I recently watched a lecture from linguist Noam Chomsky, in which he alluded to studies that may or may not be coming closer to revealing the objectivity of ethics. A search for such studies has not ...
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Are levels of intelligence different levels of consciousness?
I just want to clarify that I do NOT think I have a more gifted mind than average. Not at all. However, I am very existential and often wonder about the nature of basic things.
Anyway, one of my ...
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Emergent consciousness
Thought experiment on emergent consciousness from physical object - brain:
Imagine we record all neural firings of human brain within 5 seconds interval. Now, if we replace each neuron with a single ...
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What does Spinoza mean by Acquiescentia in se ipso?
In Part V of Spinoza’s Ethics the pinnacle of human freedom and understanding is discussed as the viewpoint from eternal blessedness. How are we to characterize or interpret this doctrine of ...
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Really confused regarding being reborn
I posted this the other day however, nobody has really explained. I want to dismiss the notion of a soul/spirit, and i believe when I die, my memories/personality/experiences will die with me.
However ...
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Irrational fear of reincarnation. Please help [closed]
I’ve been having these irrational thoughts regarding reincarnation. I’m worried that after death, I will be reborn as a prey animal, farm animal or a new human with a shitty existence. I would have no ...
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Would quantum uncertainty in neurons mean free will or just random will?
Famed physicist Penrose has an interesting albeit speculative theory that tiny structures in the Neuron facilitate conciousness beyond the way we currently think neurons work.
Whether he's right or ...
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Is a physical process identical to an algorithm computing it?
I have read three questions about algorithms and their relation to the human brain.
Two recent ones:
Question on Godel's Remark on Algorithmic Nature of Mind
and:
Why doesn't Searle's ...
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Where is it that I go when I dream?
This is a question that I had posed regarding the nature of mental images described by patients who suffer from Charles Bonnet Syndrome here:
What is the nature of the mental images that are perceived ...
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What are some refutations of Husserl’s anti-psychologism?
Husserl argues that psychologism fails through its inability to distinguish between objects of knowledge and acts of knowing, the act being a temporal and psychical process characterized by ...
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What are the "Acts" Discussed in Husserl's "Logical Investigations"?
I am reading Dan Zahavi's Husserl's Phenomenology with a specific focus on his treatment of Logical Investigations. He describes Logical Investigations as "providing a new foundation for pure ...
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How does Kant treat the sublime in the Anthropology compared with the Third Critique?
Is Kant treating the sublime consistently in the third critique and Anthropology? In other words, what are the differences being addressed in these empirical and transcendental inquires regarding the ...
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What does Hume's Fork teach us about pattern recognition?
I could be wrong but I think that pattern recognition means mastering mental schema to predict the future.
Hume's fork is a brand new concept that I learned about and offers an interesting perspective ...
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Is there an established definition of "consciousness"?
Does it even make sense to attempt to define the concept, as it would arguably require to take a view point "outside of it"?
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What is the name of the philosophical problem of consciousness?
I have heard several people discuss "The Philosophical Problem of Consciousness". I'm trying to put a label on the philosophical discussions(s) on this topic.
One example:
The ultimate ...
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Are pursuing the well-being and reducing the suffering of sentient beings objectively good things?
I think most people intuitively agree that increasing their own well-being and minimizing their own suffering are the right things to do. Everyone wants to be happy, enjoy a good health, etc. The ...
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What's the importance of self-awareness?
Philosophers such as Singer emphasize self-awareness as essential to consciousness and somehow related to an individual's moral value.
These perspectives don't make a lot of sense to me.
Self-...
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Is there a difference in philosophy between the term self-consciousness and self-awareness?
I have seen the terms self-aware and self-conscious being used interchangeably in discussions of what distinguishes a person from a conscious animal. Is there a difference of meaning between them?
I ...
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Would Singer believe a person needs to be self-conscious or just conscious? What even is the difference?
In philosophy class, we were given a revision guide that listed philosophers for and against a list of viewpoints. Peter Singer was listed as "for" for the claim that "Consciousness is ...
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Is there anything called as ‘infinite consciousness’?
We understand what is meant by infinite space. No matter in which direction we go we will never find end of space... Similarly can we define what is infinite consciousness? ( I hope meaning of ...
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What is the nature of the mental images that are perceived by patients who suffer from Charles Bonnet Syndrome?
I am not sure if this question should be asked in the Philosophy or Neuroscience forum as both domains are relevant to this inquiry. Will have a go anyway.
One of the defining characteristics of CBS ...
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how can one distinguish between disorder and the supernatural?
Many strange things happen to us when we are asleep.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-of-body_experience
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk
...
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Does consciousness really exist?
Consciousness has been debated for centuries however not only we don't have a good definition of it, I struggle to believe this term makes any sense. To me it looks like the term was made up purely to ...
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Why do people make theories without predictive power?
I studied neuroscience and during my studies I had a course called "The philosophy of consciousness". There we looked at a theory called Qualia, which infuriated me to no ends. Reading up on ...
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Is your consciousness the same every day?
I want to know what tell us the most popular theories of consciousness about its continuity over periods of uncounsciousness.
Identity through time is controversial, but assuming that you are the same ...
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Neutrinos & consciousness: fundamental link between the weak force, neutrino and biological cell? [closed]
I noticed several publications about a potential fundamental link between the weak force, electron neutrino and biological cell as origin of consciousness, however, there appears to be no 'buzz' about ...
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Why isn't there just one quale? (qualia)
As far as I know, the hard problem of consciousness is focused on how the physical and mental states relate. However I haven't been able to find any attempts to answer the question of how identical ...
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Is thinking an activity of a subject?
I am interested in the question of whether thinking must be an activity of a subject. Is it true that thinking has no reality without being a mode of the subject? Could it be possible that there is ...
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What did David Chalmers mean when he said we should use a nonreductive type of explanation of consciousness?
In "The Hard Problem of Consciousness", he stated "Given that reductive explanation
fails, nonreductive explanation is the natural choice." but what does this mean exactly? Is he ...
