Why Cognitive Science Needs Phenomenology: Rethinking the Epistemology of Consciousness Through Intuitive Dualism
Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour October 30, 2025 Rebecca Peng, Amit Hagar
Intuitive dualism—the natural human tendency to separate mind from body—is a widespread feature of experience that cognitive science must treat as legitimate data rather than bracket away. Drawing on developmental psychology and cognitive anthropology, the article argues that first-person experience provides genuine epistemic access to consciousness. The goal is not to endorse metaphysical dualism but to recognize that subjective experience is the foundational material any science of consciousness must address. Adopting a phenomenological epistemology realigns scientific inquiry with lived reality, offering a path to reconcile cognitive science, philosophy, and the puzzle of consciousness.