The society of mind
The conscious mind: in search of a fundamental theory
The conscious mind: in search of a fundamental theory
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This paper proposes a way of bridging the explanatory gap between physical processes in the brain and the "felt" aspect of sensory experience. The approach is based on the idea that experience is not generated by brain processes themselves, but rather is constituted by the way these brain processes enable a particular form of "give-and-take" between the perceiver and the environment. From this starting-point we are able to characterize the phenomenological differences between the different sensory modalities in a more principled way than has been done in the past. We are also able to approach the issue of the experiential quality of sensory awareness and consciousness in a satisfactory way. Finally we describe one of the empirical consequences of the theory, namely the phenomenon of "change blindness".