On the primacy and irreducible nature of first-person versus third-person information

F1000Res. 2017 Feb 1:6:99. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.10752.3. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

In this essay, we will support the claim that at the current level of scientific advancement a) some first-person accounts cannot be reduced to their third-person neural and psychophysiological correlates and b) that these first-person accounts are the only information to reckon when it is necessary to analyse qualia contents. Consequently, for many phenomena, first-person accounts are the only reliable source of information available and the knowledge of their neural and psychophysical correlates don't offer any additional information about them.

Keywords: consciousness; first-person; mind-brain relationship; third-person.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work.