CHAPTER 1
Mainstream views on consciousness
Intro
In this chapter I will provide you with information on definitionsas well as on the various views on consciousness that exist inmainstream philosophy and science. Also I am including a short overviewof the current issues in mainstream consciousness studies.
Mainstream, in its meaning of the current thought of the majority, inWestern physics and philosophy is based on the assumptions of classicalNewtonian physics. In the East it is based on various larger Chinese andIndian philosophical systems. The Western and Eastern mainstream linesof thought are opposites: separation rules the first, oneness the other.
I will concentrate on the Western views of consciousness, but also Easternviews will be touched upon. My aim is to first show you the classical wayof thinking, in this chapter, and then move on to a modern, 'avant-garde',quantum way of thinking, explained in chapter two. This quantum wayof thinking has several similarities with the Eastern way, and so havetheir views on consciousness.
The Newtonian World
Now first a very short explanation of Newtonian physics, the foundation ofthe Western classical world view. This physics system, which originated inthe 17th century, concerns itself with the set of physical laws describing themotion of bodies under the action of a system of forces, such as gravity.
Newtonian physics state that both space and time are independent fromanything external, and are therefore absolute. Space remains alwayssimilar and immovable. It is occupied by matter, in the form of solidobjects, always larger than zero length, and therefore detectable by one'ssenses, directly or via microscopes. These objects are considered to beimpenetratable and permanent, obeying fixed cause-and-effect laws in apredictable manner.
The materialistic world view flowing from Newtonian physics was rathereasy to foresee. It is a view in which matter comes first and only. Anythingthat cannot be perceived by the senses of sight, taste, hearing, touch andsmell is considered questionable.
Material objects are seen as separated from each other, as well as humansand any other living organism as all of them consist of matter. All actionsby living organisms are based on cause and effect, heavily determinedby the circumstances these organisms live in. Although this view is stillconsciously or unconsciously present in people's minds, it has lost itsextreme deterministic qualities in the 20th and 21st century. However,the notion that only matter exists still prevails and continues to influencethe Western world.
Classical physics states that there is a real world out there, actingindependently of human consciousness, which, in this view, arises fromreal objects, such as neurons and molecules. It is seen as a byproduct of thematerial causes which produce the many physical effects observed. You willfind the materialist view in many present day consciousness studies.
Consciousness definitions and typecasting
In mainstream Western science and philosophy, many definitions andconcepts exist on consciousness. The term refers to a variety of aspectsof the relationship between the mind and the world with which itinteracts (1). It has been defined as: subjectivity; awareness; the abilityto experience feelings; wakefulness; having a sense of selfhood; or theexecutive control system of the mind (2).
Despite the difficulty of definition, many philosophers believe that thereis a broadly shared underlying intuition about what consciousness is. AsMax Velmans and Susan Schneider wrote in The Blackwell Companion toConsciousness: "Anything that we are aware of at a given moment formspart of our consciousness, making conscious experience at once the mostfamiliar and most mysterious aspect of our lives." (3)
In medicine, consciousness is assessed by observing a patient's arousaland responsiveness, and can be seen as a continuum of states ranging fromfull alertness and comprehension, through disorientation, delirium, lossof meaningful communication, and finally loss of movement in responseto painful stimuli. (4)
The reason why it is difficult to define consciousness may be related to itssubjectivity; it may simply mean different things to different people. Thisis one of the reasons that investigators use various models to describethe phenomenon. The model created by Ned Block is used widely inthe scientific community. He views a distinction between two types ofconsciousness that he calls phenomenal (P-consciousness) and access(A-consciousness). P-consciousness, according to Block, is simply rawexperience: it is moving, colored forms, sounds, sensations, emotions andfeelings with our bodies and responses at the center. These experiences,considered independently of any impact on behavior, are called qualia.A-consciousness is the phenomenon whereby information in our mindsis accessible for verbal report, reasoning, and the control of behavior (5).Understanding P-consciousness is considered very challenging; DavidChalmers calls this the hard problem: How can a physical brain, madepurely of material substances and nothing else, give rise to consciousexperiences or ineffable qualia? (6)
Materialist views
Also Susan Blackmore mentions different types of consciousness:phenomenal consciousness, when talking about 'What it is like to be ...'versus access consciousness which refers to thinking, or guiding action andspeech. In her book Consciousness, a Very Short Introduction, she provideseasy accessible information on the topic. She asks herself if consciousnessis an extra ingredient that we humans have in addition to our abilities ofperceiving, thinking and feeling, or if it is an intrinsic and inseparable partof being a creature that can perceive and think and feel. This question shelinks to the connection between the phenomenon and the working of thebrain; the answer is in her view not favorable for the first named: "Perhapsyou think consciousness is needed for making decisions, but we know alot about how the brain makes decisions and it does not seem to needan extra added force to do so. Also, we can make computers...
