How to Mitigate the Hard Problem by Adopting the Dual Theory of Phenomenal Consciousness

Michal Polák; Tomáš Marvan

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02837

How to Mitigate the Hard Problem by Adopting the Dual Theory of Phenomenal Consciousness

Front Psychol. 2019 Dec 17:10:2837. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02837. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Michal Polák¹, Tomáš Marvan²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czechia.
² Department of Analytic Philosophy, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy, Prague, Czechia.

Abstract

In this paper, we propose the following hypothesis: the hard problem of consciousness is in part an artifact of what we call the unitary approach to phenomenal consciousness. The defining mark of the unitary approach is that it views consciousness and phenomenality as inseparable. Giving up this conceptual commitment redefines, in a productive way, the explanatory tasks of the theory of consciousness. Adopting a non-unitary conception of experience does not make the hard problem of consciousness go away completely but it shifts the locus of where the explanation of experience gets difficult, and cuts down the mystery of consciousness to size. Other advantages of the non-unitary account of consciousness are sketched as well.

Keywords: consciousness; hard problem; phenomenal consciousness; phenomenality; unconscious phenomenality.

Publication types

Review