Consciousness and the “causal paradox.”

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Velmans, Max. 1996. Consciousness and the “causal paradox.”. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 19(3), pp. 538-542. ISSN 0140-525X [Article]

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00082078

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Viewed from a first-person perspective consciousness appears to be necessary for complex, novel human activity - but viewed from a third-person perspective consciousness appears to play no role in the activity of brains, producing a "causal paradox". To resolve this paradox one needs to distinguish consciousness of processing from consciousness accompanying processing or causing processing. Accounts of consciousness/brain causal interactions switch between first- and third-person perspectives. However, epistemically, the differences between first- and third-person access are fundamental. First- and third-person accounts are complementary and mutually irreducible.

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Article

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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00082078