Goodbye to Reductionism

In Hameroff S., Kaszniak A. & Scott Siera Aubrey Lee Scott, Towards a Science of Consciousness II: The Second Tucson Discussions and Debates. MIT Press. pp. 45-52 (1998)
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Abstract

This paper argues that within consciousness studies, dualist vs. reductionist debates typically characterise experience in ways which do not correspond to ordinary experience, and that to understand consciousness one must start with an accurate description of its phenomenology. Only then can one develop an understanding of how experiences viewed from a first-person perspective relate to events in the brain viewed from a third-person perspective. The paper then lists some common arguments for conscious experiences (accurately described) being nothing more than brain states along with their fallacies. It concludes that there are fundamental problems with ontological reductionism of conscious experiences to brain states that cannot be resolved.

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Max Velmans
Goldsmiths College, University of London

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References found in this work

The Rediscovery of the Mind.John R. Searle - 1992 - MIT Press. Edited by Ned Block & Hilary Putnam.
Is consciousness a brain process.Ullin T. Place - 1956 - British Journal of Psychology 47 (1):44-50.
Consciousness, brain, and the physical world.Max Velmans - 1990 - Philosophical Psychology 3 (1):77-99.

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