How experimental neuroscientists can fix the hard problem of consciousness

Colin Klein; Andrew B Barron

doi:10.1093/nc/niaa009

How experimental neuroscientists can fix the hard problem of consciousness

Neurosci Conscious. 2020 Jun 24;2020(1):niaa009. doi: 10.1093/nc/niaa009. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Colin Klein¹, Andrew B Barron²

Affiliations

¹ School of Philosophy, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.
² Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia.

Abstract

For the materialist, the hard problem is fundamentally an explanatory problem. Solving it requires explaining why the relationship between brain and experience is the way it is and not some other way. We use the tools of the interventionist theory of explanation to show how a systematic experimental project could help move beyond the hard problem. Key to this project is the development of second-order interventions and invariant generalizations. Such interventions played a crucial scientific role in untangling other scientific mysteries, and we suggest that the same will be true of consciousness. We further suggest that the capacity for safe and reliable self-intervention will play a key role in overcoming both the hard and meta-problems of consciousness. Finally, we evaluate current strategies for intervention, with an eye to how they might be improved.

Keywords: consciousness; hard problem; intervention; meta-problem.

Publication types

Review