The riddle of consciousness
Barnaby Cullen
Consciousness is such an elusive topic that there are even difficulties with regards to defining it. It has a great deal of synonyms, and since many philosophers hold that oneÊs consciousness is entirely unique, and their view of it subjective, according to said philosophers. the consciousness is not only a riddle in that the semantics of it are difficult to grasp, but also in that there are numerous conflicting theories on whether the consciousness exists, and if so where? How? However, we may be moving closer to the truth. The study of consciousness has been around since René Descartes and since his day, neurology and psychology, the two disciplines that may give us the greatest insight into consciousness have advanced by a great extent by using science, is it possible to resolve the Âriddle of consciousnessÊ? In the following essay I will investigate the difficulties associated with understanding the consciousness, and some of the different viewpoints, before moving on to whether scientific theory can disprove these conflicting theories and resolve the riddle of consciousness. I shall also include my own viewpoint of the questions proposition. Consciousness is derived from the Latin ÂscioÊ (I know), and attracts some confusion as to its exact definition. Whilst the general consensus among philosophers is that people have their own intuitive idea about what consciousness is, a commonly held view is that being conscious is the state of being aware of the self and the external reality. Furthermore there is no definition of what having consciousness enables you to do or feel. Descartes thought that a consciousness is why we could use language, and mathematical reasoning, and this implies that animals do not have a consciousness. However, this is at odds with the view that being conscious is being aware of external reality. Others might say that the
consciousness is the source of logic, emotion, memory, or any such abstract concepts which seem difficult to understand by making the brain accountable. We do not know if other people have conscious minds, since we do not know how they experience things. This is Âthe problem of other mindsÊ. Because oneÊs consciousness is built on oneÊs experience, and we do not know how another experiences something, we have no insight into anotherÊs consciousness, regardless of how well we know our own. Even though oneÊs reaction to pain may be the same, we have no way of knowing that the inner sensation that one feels when they register pain is the same as ours. Therefore, since the definition of consciousness and its role are subjective, and since we can claim no insight into the minds of others, nor indeed if they exist, there is tremendous difficulty in comprehending exactly what the consciousness is, and observing it and what it does. And since science is primarily based on being able to observe something, it is difficult to create a provable valid scientific theory on the consciousness. This problem is exacerbated when metaphysical views on the mind come into play. One threat to a scientific theory is the competition it will have to face from other theories on the mind. In order to establish itself as the most widely accepted theory and as such be recognized as the theory that solved the consciousness, it will have to counter the other philosophical viewpoints on the mind. There are a great deal, the most prevalent of which are Dualism and Materialism, which can be divided into a number of sub-categories. I shall present these theories as well as New Mysterianism, Idealism, and the Cognitive Computational Approach, after which I will inform you of ways which scientific theory might counter such ideas. However, it is possible that a
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