Velmans, Max. 1995. The relation of consciousness to the material world. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 2(3), pp. 255-265. ISSN 1355-8250 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

Within psychology and the brain sciences, the study of consciousness and its relation to human information processing is once more a focus for productive research. However, some ancient puzzles about the nature of consciousness appear to be resistant to current empirical investigations, suggesting the need for a fundamentally different approach. In Velmans (1991a; b; 1993a) I have argued that functional (information processing) accounts of the mind do not ‘contain’ consciousness within their workings. Investigations of information processing are not investigations of consciousness as such. Given this, first-person investigations of experience need to be related nonreductively to third-person investigations of processing. For example, conscious contents may be related to neural/physical representations via a dual-aspect theory of information. Chalmers (1995) arrives at very similar conclusions. But there are also theoretical differences. Unlike Chalmers I argue for the use of neutral information processing language for functional accounts rather than the term ‘awareness’. I do not agree that functional equivalence cannot be extricated from phenomenal equivalence, and suggest a hypothetical experiment for doing so - using a cortical implant for blindsight. I argue that not all information has phenomenal accompaniments, and introduce a different form of dual-aspect theory involving ‘psychological complementarity’. I also suggest that the hard problem posed by ‘qualia’ has its origin in a misdescription of everyday experience implicit in dualism.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Chalmers, consciousness, blindsight, cortical implant, dual-aspect theory, first-person, hard problem, information processing, psychological complementarity, third-person
Related URLs:	Author
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Psychology
Dates:	Date Event 1995 Published
Item ID:	26240
Date Deposited:	12 Apr 2019 12:34
Last Modified:	12 Apr 2019 12:34
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/26240

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