CONSCIOUSNESS STUDIES

Consciousness Studies

Consciousness Studies

Introduction

This paper will be discussing and identifying two theorists of consciousness and will be summarising their respective positions. In the discussion and analysis part we will be comparing their theories and in conclusion part will state which one is most convincing, and why. A fundamental framework to explain the process of human evolution from a cognitive point of view is what we call states of consciousness: a process that identifies the human cognitive condition in its most decisive (Humphrey, 1992: 47). Through our conscious states, and under natural conditions of cognitive development, individuals make, interpret and represent reality lived by them.

Discussion and Analysis

Daniel Dennett and Consciousness

The evolution in the work of freedom, Daniel Dennett invites us to consider the self-consciousness that distinguishes human beings, as a sort of monitoring system of the brain that turns on itself. The animals would not need to develop any capacity for self-monitoring, because the nerve processes that take place within them are relatively simple and they work well enough "blind", without the need to be observed by someone (Dennett, 1991: 19).

They can serve as control mechanisms to ensure that actions are successful, but this type of controls, as is the case for many homeostatic functions (body temperature, salt concentration in the blood, heart rate, etc.) Can be done, according to Dennett, in a completely automatic and unconscious. With the increase in behavior options, the value of an internal order can sometimes be something "appreciated" by natural selection.

The assessment of the likely outcomes of an action is important, but the representation of the process of evaluation, for Dennett, is even more important. Even a computer program for playing chess examines millions of moves, assessing their possible outcome and choosing the move that is more advantageous in the light of the trial parameters that were provided, but it does completely mechanically, without the slightest awareness (Crick, 1994: 39). Dennett suggests that the transition from a type of automatic evaluation informed assessment, "self-aware", has been developed following the birth of language, which made ??it possible not only to communicate to others the results of their actions, but also the feedback that preceded them.

It must be admitted that the idea of considering consciousness as a kind of representation that makes the system itself and its business is not without a certain charm, although it is certainly not new. But the man and the machine are two distinct systems, each with its own internal organization, which communicate with each other only through interfaces (including the monitor). In the case of man and consciousness, as Dennett's view representations of the latter are nothing more than a mere product of brain activity, you are talking necessarily of the same phenomenon. 

David Chalmers and Consciousness

Materialism fails today and tomorrow will not be able to explain the phenomena of consciousness. That's the argument put forward by David Chalmers in a really impressive book around a problem that is most difficult in philosophy of mind: the explanation of the phenomena of ...