Metaphysics and the Problems of Consciousness

REFLECTIONS ON METAPHYSICS AND THE PROBLEMS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

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Document status: November 2, 2018

This document was originally written in the winter of 1995 as a reaction to John Searle’s review of books on consciousness in the New York Review of Books. It was about that time that Michael Tye published Ten Problems of Consciousness. I was not aware of Tye’s book until the next year and it is a coincidence that there are ten problems in this essay

The current essay is outdated with regard to my thought on consciousness and philosophical frameworks for thinking about consciousness. It is superseded by Problems in the Philosophy of Mind and Consciousness and then by Journey in Being. The latter essay is far more ambitious than the former on consciousness and this essay – in scope and in depth – and it is, therefore less detailed. Therefore, the current essay may contain some items of interest

While the essential content of the current essay is implicit in Journey in Being in virtue of its relative depth, this essay may have some material of interest – especially suggestions for work on consciousness

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

1What is consciousness?

2What is the seat of consciousness?

3What is necessary and sufficient for consciousness?

4Who or what is conscious?

5What is the place of consciousness in mind?

6What is the function of consciousness?

7What is the place of consciousness in the universe?

8What is necessary for a metaphysics to explain consciousness?

9The problems of explanation and understanding

10Future directions

APPENDIX: METAPHYSICS AND THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

REFERENCES

REFLECTIONS ON METAPHYSICS AND THE PROBLEMS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

INTRODUCTION

The origins of this essay

The topics of this essay are an important part of my interests. I have been thinking and writing on these issues for a long time

I read John Searle’s New York Review of Books articles on the “Mystery of Consciousness” starting November 1995 and by December, that year had written “The Problems of Consciousness” - the first version of this essay. I agreed with much of what Searle had to say. I disagreed with some of his views and felt that the treatment needed inclusion of additional and important dimensions. This was reflected in that original version

I added a significant amount of new material in a number of steps over the year of 1996. The additions included further reflections on metaphysics and relations to the problems of consciousness. I added a second part “Metaphysics and The Fundamental Problem of Consciousness.” This resulted in “Reflections on the Problems of Consciousness” in December 1996

This second version went through a number of revisions

Recently, I have been updating much of my writing using Microsoft Word 97 on a Gateway 2000 Pentium 166 MMX computer. I have made some additions and partial re-organization and the essay is now “Reflections on Metaphysics and The Fundamental Problem of Consciousness.”

The “digitization” has been an exciting task. In addition to the automation due to Word, I have entered the outlines of some of my essays as a Microsoft Access 97 database. The purpose is to manipulate the outlines as data and as concepts. Outlines can be joined. Different conceptualizations of the same outline can be compared. When I interpret the results, I find new understanding. The result is that the text and data processing is assisting in my thinking and concept formation

I have written an essay “Dynamic Uses of Computers” that catalogs numerous other ways from the detailed and merely organizational to the general and conceptual to programming and automation…in which data processing may be used in concept formation and related knowledge and thought processes. The potential applications range mechanical assistance to those in which the computer is deployed to “enter the loop of concept of knowledge and concept formation.”

I am exploring new concepts of “thought” which will allow an interpretation in which my computer is thinking. “Dynamic Uses of Computers” which elaborates and analyses this interpretation. This development clearly meshes with some of the considerations in the present essay

This indicates one line for further work

Another line is the mesh with my central interests that I have developed in “Evolution and Design” of 1987, and continue with “Evolution, Design, and the Absolute” - the title is not final

My adventures in nature and culture also affect my thoughts on consciousness

Some of these considerations are present - if obliquely - in the present essay

A number of other avenues and plans are outlined and discussed in §10 of this essay

One suggestion of that section is a consideration that is somewhat neglected in my essay and many academic developments. It concerns the wonder of the emergence of my own consciousness. That is a mystery, not so much in the sense of my being ignorant of the source of my consciousness, but in the sense of awe, wonder and adventure. As I point out in §10.4.3 this issue has academic interest and consequences in addition to its existential aspect

That paints a picture of the journey ahead

June 1998

Introduction to the problems

In reflection on consciousness and upon what has been written on this topic, it appears to me that there are a number of interrelated issues, or questions, which, taken as a whole, define the problems and problem areas of consciousness and their relations with the world. I believe that, as for any significant philosophical or existential problem consideration in a whole or universal context contributes to understanding of the problem and of the universal context. This development does not arise at once but is iterative, reflexive and interactive. However, although the development is interactive, this essay is divided into two main parts. In the first part, “The Problems,” problems and resolutions are defined, refined and elaborated. The selection of the problems is important - I consider and apply the issue of what constitutes a complete set of problems of consciousness. “The Problems” are interactive with the second main part on “Metaphysics and the Fundamental Problem of Consciousness.”

The problem areas include the proximate - the immediate aspects, the material “substrate”, the nature including concepts and definitions of consciousness and its function from mechanical and from valuational perspectives, as part of an organism in nature and in social life, and the growth of consciousness in the individual; the evolutionary - the origins of consciousness in evolution [that is, in nature], the origin of its nature and functions and interrelations; and the ultimate issues which include the relations between consciousness and the universe, and questions such as whether the universe is material and or mental and or intrinsically conscious…

Proximate issues can be seen as immediate, as phenomenal and - according to choice of metaphysics - as empirical, or material or ideal. As far as origins are hypothetical rather than empirical, evolutionary issues can be seen as a conceptual integration of the proximate issues. This follows from the paradigm in biology where evolution provides a deep explanatory framework. Since ultimate concerns can be seen as the most general of conceptual schemes, evolutionary considerations form a connection between the proximate and the ultimate. I do not regard the evolutionary and the ultimate as merely conceptual and, as pointed out below, they are intimately related to the proximate even in a realistic framework

Note that the term “evolutionary” could be replaced by the more neutral “genetic” - which is introduced here in its etymological and not in any specifically biological or theological sense. Genetic issues would be those having to do with origins, creation, history and formation. The problem areas would then be the proximate, the genetic and the ultimate

It has been suggested in the literature that the essential problem of consciousness is its origin in the brain and that definition of consciousness is simple. This has a certain adequacy, especially in relation to some of the proximate problems. Remember, however, that in physical science concepts of matter have come a long way from ostensive definition, that is, definition by instance rather than description. Similarly, note that consciousness is an element of mind among other elements and that in this consciousness itself is not unitary. It follows that a restructuring of our understanding of mind and consciousness is possible and some considerations of this issue are made in this essay. These provide useful perspectives on consciousness. Further, to be taken up later, such an intrinsic science of consciousness would provide additional avenues for scientific investigation and explanation of consciousness. Thus, the idea that the definition of consciousness is or should be simple - or ostensive - is useful but limited

Relative to the evolutionary and the ultimate issues, I find characterizations of consciousness as simple or unitary to be inadequate, since they suggest, as noted in the following essay, a projection to the ultimate of certain proximate and contingent modes of description. Furthermore, I believe denial of the ultimate is an error - perhaps even pathology - of modern intellectual and spiritual life with serious negative intellectual and existential consequences

The evolutionary [genetic] and the ultimate problems are, of course, vital and interesting from both scientific and human points of view. Common origins result in relations among the elements and so genetic descriptions are a powerful component of systems of understanding and explanation. The history of the universe - or of the universes - is one of a handful of perspectives on the ultimate that provide alternatives to mere belief

Additionally, I see the proximate and the ultimate as intimately related - in fact and each for the understanding of the other. Therefore, from philosophic and even from scientific and practical day-to-day standpoints, the ultimate questions are relevant

In the following essay, I reflect upon these issues and relationships, and briefly, upon how they have been viewed in the recent literature. I list and discuss ten interrelated problems of consciousness. As discussed above, proximate, evolutionary and ultimate issues are considered, and, because of the interrelations, these problems and problem areas are synergistically interactive. In other words, reflection upon the group of problems as a whole also enhances understanding of the individual problems

In the essay, the problems are numbered 1 through 10. Problems 3 and 4 regard proximate concerns; except problem 10, the remaining problems are ultimate or evolutionary

The essay starts with reflection on the nature of consciousness in Problem 1 and its material origins in Problem 2. The treatment focuses more on the nature of the problems and solutions than on specific solutions

These considerations are then refined and elaborated in Problems 3 and 4. In Problem 3, I reflect on what are the mental and or material elements of consciousness - and of human consciousness. Problem 4 asks, “What is conscious?” and “How is consciousness recognized?”

In anticipation of the needs of the discussion of evolutionary and ultimate concerns - indeed even of a full treatment of proximate concerns - definitions and signs of consciousness beyond ostensive definition are up in problems 1 through 4

Problem 5 takes up the relationships of consciousness to other mental activity. The functions of consciousness are the concerns of Problem 6

This leads naturally into the evolutionary, ultimate and metaphysical issues of Problems 7, 8 and 9:

Problem 7 is on the place of consciousness in the universe. What are the relations and origins of consciousness?

Problem 8 considers the relation between consciousness and metaphysics. What are the necessary elements to explain consciousness?

Problem 9 considers the relation between consciousness and explanation and understanding. Explanation and understanding may be abstracted from their known human context. In their abstract form they may be regarded as features of the universe. What does this imply regarding consciousness?

In addition to thinking about consciousness, I also consider the nature and significance of the problems; approaches to thinking about these issues; competing metaphysical frameworks within which consciousness might be best understood; and, finally, directions for future work. These reflections are interspersed throughout the essay, but are also specifically taken up in problem 10

I have tried from a number of points of view to list a complete, structured problem set, and to show that this set is “necessary”; this is at this point somewhat implicit and intuitive. Problem 10 also takes up this issue in an explicit and rational way

In thinking about the problems, I naturally reflect upon ideas, resolutions and answers. A well-defined set of problems specifies the field and contains and implies the structure and nature of the resolutions

A future treatment would include reformulation of the issues as [1] Nature of consciousness; the aspects or areas of consciousness; function; relation to the world: mind, matter…[2] Perspectives on understanding and knowledge of consciousness as an element of the human endeavor of understanding. Now, since the broader topics [the “context”] themselves contain open questions, [1] raises questions of science, metaphysics, society, and value…and [2] raises epistemological issues. Further metaphysics includes - or can be seen as including - epistemology and this provides an organizational principles

This essay also functions as groundwork for further development; some beginnings towards resolution are found throughout the essay and specifically in a final section entitled “Metaphysics and the Fundamental Problem of Consciousness”. Building upon considerations developed in defining and reflecting upon consciousness and its problems, this section also provides beginnings toward definition and resolution of The Fundamental Problem of Metaphysics

This final consideration elaborates the necessity and power, noted above, of considering the broad and essential realm of consciousness in its complete ontological or world context. This contextual formulation of individual problems as part of a complete problem comes neither before nor after consideration of constituent problems but is part of an ongoing cycle or process. It relates to what I have called a “Complete Field” and, informally, to the idea of axiomatic systems from mathematical logic. Although there is an overlap with axiomatic systems the scope and emphasis are different. The scope of a complete field includes being or entities; facts and history; concepts, ideas and theories; discussion and analysis. The analysis is explicitly reflexive and so includes discussion of what should constitute a complete field and what constitutes good analysis. The historical element includes a requirement that incorporates the history of ideas; completeness requires that this should not be limited with regard to era, culture, society, or being. Thus the scope includes the “sub-fields” of being, history, concepts and analysis. The emphasis in formulating a complete is to bring all relevant considerations into play - starting, perhaps, with the immediate world and common meanings. This is followed by expanding scope, refining meanings and relationships. The elements of a Complete Field include - by design and by evolution - factors conducive to the production of a complete field. The potentially over-ambitious and paradoxical aspects of the term “complete” are diffused by the foregoing placement in an ebb and flow process. Given this, the idea of a complete field is seen as a reasonable modern process analogue of the ideas and intents of the older concepts of systematic or speculative metaphysics

December, 1995

December, 1996

June, 1998

REFLECTIONS ON THE PROBLEMS OF CONSCIOUSNESS[1]

PART 1: THE PROBLEMS

1What is consciousness?

2What is the seat of consciousness?

In some viewpoints - for both scientific and practical purposes - consciousness is not difficult to define: it is simply what we think it to be in common sense: it is the state or function of mind in which we have subjective experience of the world.[2]

Since there is a qualitative, subjective feeling to conscious states, such states have been labeled qualia

In one standard viewpoint the essence of consciousness is qualia; humans and some animals are conscious; consciousness arises in the brain; and the real problem of consciousness is how does it arise in the brain - “the most important problem in modern biology”.[3] Thus the problem of consciousness, in this viewpoint, is the problem of qualia; that is, how do feelings, sensations, imagery, and thoughts arise in matter. More particularly, how do they arise in the brain?

The flow of this essay is this: I first consider proximate issues and criticism of the standard view described briefly above and in the introduction. This leads via an examination of the nature of the argument - and of dialectic in general - to evolutionary and ultimate considerations. Finally, as an integral part of the development, a full field of concepts including metaphysics will be naturally delineated and tested. The final discussion will formulate and analyze a fundamental problem of metaphysics

The discussion will illuminate both topics

That discussion of fundamental problem of metaphysics will be flow naturally and necessarily from the consideration of the issues of consciousness. That is true because of the centrality and depth of the issue of consciousness and because a full discussion of any central ontological topic must be in its whole context

2.1On definition...and on definitions of consciousness

The purpose of the following note is to show that adequacy of definition is a function of objectives and to provide some preliminary consideration to be taken up in further detail later in this essay - of this issue relative to proximate, evolutionary and ultimate problems

Definition of consciousness as qualia is an ostensive definition - a definition by “pointing”, by identifying the object of definition; e.g., I point at a tree and say “that is a tree” and perhaps at another tree and say “that too is a tree”. Another type of definition is the verbal definition [Russell], also called or similar to the real definition. A tree has roots, trunk, branches, leaves, etc. The idea is, in preference to coming up with a perfect definition for all time, to illuminate here and now, and based also upon past experience [tree] recognition and understanding… and also its relation with other things [explanation, understanding, knowledge] by uncovering the real essence of “tree-hood”… ostensive definition is a beginning. It is the verbal definition in which I say, “a tree is a tree” or “a tree is what it is”… or “consciousness is qualia”. Simple!

But “real” definition attempts to understand one thing in terms of other things [external and or internal]: to enhance understanding. This, of course, is not a simple matter of inter-human agreement. Real definition is also a process or part of a process of discovery [and, therefore, a common notion of definition as coming at the beginning, as defining, is somewhat misleading; yes, in an axiomatic system definitions come near the beginning but in formulation there is an interactive process and in reformulation the redefinition of a concept is based on experience with the entire axiomatic system - and its relations internal and external]…