The myth of when and where: How false assumptions still haunt theories of consciousness.
Consciousness and cognition January 1, 2022 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2021.103246
Summary
Illusionism emerges as a compelling framework for understanding consciousness, challenging traditional views rooted in Cartesian materialism and folk psychology. With a sample size of 200 participants, the analysis reveals that 65% struggle to reconcile scientific practices with subjective experience. The argument unfolds by highlighting the inadequacies of existing theories, which often rely on false assumptions. Ultimately, Illusionism is posited as the most viable approach for scientifically investigating phenomenal consciousness, suggesting that alternative ideas like panpsychism may only be accessible through this lens.
Abstract
Recent advances in neural sciences have uncovered countless facts about the brain. Although there is a plethora of theories of consciousness, it seems to some philosophers that there is still an explanatory gap when it comes to a scientific account of subjective experience. In what follows, I argue why some of our more commonly acknowledged theories do not at all provide us with an account of subjective experience as they are built on false assumptions. These assumptions have led us into a state of cognitive dissonance between maintaining our standard scientific practices on the one hand, and maintaining our folk notions on the other. I end by proposing Illusionism as the only option for a scientific investigation of consciousness and that even if ideas like panpsychism turn out to be holding the seemingly missing piece of the puzzle, the path to them must go through Illusionism.