Sytsma, Justin
(2010)
PHENOMENAL CONSCIOUSNESS AS SCIENTIFIC PHENOMENON? A CRITICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE NEW SCIENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Phenomenal consciousness poses something of a puzzle for philosophy of science. This puzzle arises from two facts: It is common for philosophers (and some scientists) to take its existence to be phenomenologically obvious and yet modern science arguably has little (if anything) to tell us about it. And, this is despite over 20 years of work targeting phenomenal consciousness in what I call the new science of consciousness. What is it about this supposedly evident phenomenon that has kept it beyond the reach of our scientific understanding? I argue that phenomenal consciousness has resisted scientific explanation because there is no such phenomenon: What is in fact phenomenologically obvious has not resisted scientific explanation, exposing phenomenal consciousness as an unneeded and unwarranted theoretical construct that is not supported by the scientific evidence. I show this through an investigation of the new science. I detail how these researchers understand "phenomenal consciousness," tie this understanding to the recent philosophical debates, and critically assess the reasons given for believing that such a scientific phenomenon exists.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
1 October 2010 |
| Date Type: |
Completion |
| Defense Date: |
5 August 2010 |
| Approval Date: |
1 October 2010 |
| Submission Date: |
13 July 2010 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > History and Philosophy of Science |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
NCC; Phenomenal Consciousness; Qualia; Science of Consciousness; Scientific Data; Scientific Phenomena |
| Other ID: |
http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-07132010-134447/, etd-07132010-134447 |
| Date Deposited: |
10 Nov 2011 19:51 |
| Last Modified: |
15 Nov 2016 13:45 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/8358 |
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