Philosophical Theories of Consciousness - Part II

Three Aspects of the Problem

  > The ontology of consciousness
  > The epistemology of consciousness
  > The structure of consciousness

The Ontology of Consciousness

> What is consciousness?
     > substance / property / process ...
> Creature & State consciousness
> Transitive & Intransitive consciousness
> What is the relation between consciousness and the other elements of our ontology?
     > especially its relation to the physical
> Does consciousness exist?
      > issues of unity
      > issues of "social constructivism"

The Epistemology of Consciousness

  > Self-knowledge and introspection
  > Scientific understanding and reduction
  > The genesis of new scientific concepts
  > Epistemological emergence
  > Mysterianism

The Structure of Consciousness

  > Phenomenology
> Thoughts
      > Intentionality
      > Representation
      > Information
> Feelings
      > Sensation
      > Qualia
      > Information ?

Emergence vs. Non-emergence

  > What is emergence ?
      > An Ancient Puzzle
      > Epistemological
      > Ontological
  > Grades of Non-Emergence
      > Mind as ultimate / fundamental
      > Mind as ubiquitous

Rough Chart of Approaches

Please note: this chart is not meant to be definitive; some positioning and some
exemplars are more or less controversial.

What is Emergence I

  > Presocratic Debates
      > Anaxagoras vs. Democritus (?)
  > What Emerges ?
      > issue is driven by the naturalizability urge
      > Properties
  > Emergent properties emerge from the submergent base properties (and relations) in a lawful manner.

What is Emergence II - Definitions

> Temporal Emergence
> F is temporally emergent iff something now has F but there was a time when nothing had F.

> (Liberal) Property Emergence
> F is an emergent property of S iff F supervenes on {f, g, h ...} of the submergent domain, and F is not a property of the submergent domain.

What is Emergence III

 > Epistemological vs. Ontological
     > How to capture the difference?
  > Prediction and complexity
      > Chaotic dynamical systems = EE ?
      > Quantum scars = EE ?
      > Quantum "entanglement" = OE ?
  > Superduper Computer Simulation

Aspects of the Thought Experiment

  > relaxed computational constraints
  > acquisition of the initial data
  > indeterministic systems
  > computability and physics

Super Computer Cosmological Simulation

Superduper Computer Domestic Simulation

Classical Non-Emergentist Views

  > Cartesian Dualism
  > Spinozist Unified Parallelism
  > Leibnizian Parallelism
  > Berkeleyian Idealism
  > Kantian Transcendental Idealism
  > Absolute Idealism

Emergentist Views

  > Ancient Atomism
  > "Modern" Mechanism
  > The British Emergentists
  > Modern Physicalisms

To Part III