Consciousness Archive

  • The futility of the “brain in the jar” argument

    The futility of the “brain in the jar” argument

    Posted on September 23, 2008 | No Comments
    There is a particular metaphysical argument which asserts that materialism cannot explain consciousness because it’s impossible to prove that even matter exists. If it’s impossible to prove that matter exists, how can one provide a material explanation of consciousness? Proponents of this argument say that...

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  • Are p-zombies really possible?

    Are p-zombies really possible?

    Posted on September 21, 2008 | No Comments
    The very subjectivity of subjective experience makes it rather difficult for someone to empirically know if someone else is truly conscious. To illustrate the point, there is the concept of the philosophical zombie or “p-zombie”. The p-zombie is an imaginary creature, an exact duplicate of...

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  • The relationship between the physical brain and consciousness

    The relationship between the physical brain and consciousness

    Posted on September 18, 2008 | No Comments
    A brain seems to be a prerequisite for consciousness – but is it sufficient? We’ll tackle the latter in more detail in other articles. Here I simply seek to establish that consciousness requires, and is affected by, the brain. It is difficult to get universal...

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  • Directed Attention and Subjective Experience

    Directed Attention and Subjective Experience

    Posted on September 18, 2008 | No Comments
    Introduction There are many challenges we encounter when trying to understand consciousness. Many of these challenges revolve around developing structural and functional explanations for consciousness within the brain, the “how it works” questions that science can grapple with effectively. However, one problem remains stubbornly outside...

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