The Role of Quantum Mechanics in Understanding the Phenomenon of Consciousness
RUDN Journal of Philosophy December 15, 2022 I. Cherepanov 2 citations
Quantum theories of consciousness, including those by Penrose-Hameroff, Tegmark, Stapp, Fischer, and Mensky, fail to fully explain how complex physical systems generate mental experience without violating the causal closure of the physical world or the epistemological completeness of physics. Quantum mechanics offers processes that may underlie the psyche but does not account for the phenomenal aspect of subjective reality. The Heisenberg uncertainty principle, however, suggests a way consciousness and body could interact without breaking energy conservation. Current quantum theories are largely panprotopsychic, but face a problem because the protomental property must be quantifiable and appear in physical equations. Developing more effective quantum theories requires an emergent approach that explains stepwise transitions across ontological levels—physical, chemical, biological, neurophysiological, and psychic.