Consciousness-Cognitive Science vs. Neuroscience

Introduction

The origin of consciousness has been discussed from time immemorial with different authors, both philosophers, and scientists trying to understand and comprehend its relationship to the mind.

In this article, I seek to understand the true definition of consciousness about the works of Damasio’s “The Feeling of What Happens” and Pinker’s “How the Mind Works.” Their works define consciousness from the perspective of cognitive science and neuroscience, and that is what I seek to compare and contrast.

Main Body

Damasio argues that neuroscience is a mother of consciousness and uses an example of neurologists and how they limit themselves to the basic definition of consciousness as a matter between the start and the end of a comma.

Thus, he further argues that the matter of consciousness is dependent on the art of selective attention where a person may decide either voluntarily to pay attention or involuntarily due to an external factor such as an illness (Damasio 32). Damasio also illustrates how consciousness is related to creativity and how it influences their emotions and feelings.

On the other hand, Pinker’s argument is directly at loggerheads with the basic definition of neuroscience, where we hope to understand the functionality of the brain and the mind as a whole. He argues that it is impossible to comprehend how a complex organ as the mind operates. This directly makes Pinker’s argument the one that supports the basic idea that cognitive science affects consciousness.

Pinker’s argument, unlike Damasio’s, does not expect us to have the slightest idea of how the consciousness and cognitive science are achieved as these are both products of the human mind which is complex and difficult to comprehend since the mind differs among different individuals due to the basic theory of natural selection and experiences that never apply equally among individuals (Pinker 66).

Therefore, it is such reasoning that drives Pinker to argue against the scientific definitions of the mind as compared to the philosophical definitions while Damasio balances the two fields.

Damasio further argues that for one to be able to understand the process of consciousness and cognitive science, they should be willing to, first of all, understand neuroscience. According to him, it is the science behind how the brain and the mind function (Damasio 56).

He states that from careful study of neuroscience through the understanding of neurology and neuro-anatomy, one can understand the working of the mind scientifically. Consciousness is defined as a state where an individual or an animal is awake and not asleep. However, he further argues that philosophically being awake does not necessarily mean you are conscious.

He presents an example of an epileptic patient who may be attacked by a seizure, and although they may be awake during the whole process, they may also be capable of saying and doing things that they may not be able to recall at a later time when the seizure is over. Hence, he presents a counter-argument to his argument and states that the state of consciousness involves the ability to comprehend, understand, see and make sound decisions from what is happening in our surroundings (Damasio 72).

Pinker takes a rather laid back and less argumentative approach to this issue. He argues that the field of neuroscience cannot be used to understand the functionality of the mind (Pinker, 83). According to him, arguing that neuroscience can be used to understand the mind is making the mind act like a computer where it has an input and an output. More so, the mind is then made to act on rules through the various algorithms that it has received just as a computer does.

This is not true or even possible since he had earlier stated that the mind is a result of natural selection and people’s experiences differ about their ages, race, and gender, and it is for this reason that we cannot expect to be able to comprehend the mind. Thus, it is virtually impossible to treat the mind as a computer, that we can easily predict its output the same way as it is possible to predict the output of a computer.

Pinker’s arguments on the psychology of cognition bring to light the true meaning of cognitive science. It is this development that enables us to learn about everything through cognition, which is a process that we had gone through earlier in life (Pinker 112). For instance, his argument on computational theory is one of the greatest reasons as to why we have cognitive science which seeks to understand how we adapt and learn things through cognition.

He argues that unlike computers that can be fed with numerous information and data at once which they can process, the human mind cannot. Acquiring cognitive knowledge or otherwise, cognitive science is something that develops slowly as the mind is fed with less and fewer truths at a time that it, later on, develops to algorithms that govern the cognitive science.

This argument is true and supported by examples given. For instance, common sense is a matter of reasoning that takes place in the mind but is a result of cognition. Thus, according to him, for a person to acquire common sense, they have gone through a lot of different basic routines that are slowly formed in mind and help in future reasoning.

The problem is that these small details became so common and general that they are ignored. It is this cognition and ability of the mind to reason that makes us understand that when somebody is inside a room they must have entered through the door, and we cannot imagine they did so through the window because such would be unconventional and against our common sense governed by cognition.

On the other hand, Damasio argues that neuroscience is the cause of consciousness. He uses the illustration that the images formed in our minds are due to our sense of essentiality. This is something that neurologists argue as it is developed through a deeper process of the things we see without the need to reason or compare them to our past experiences as argued by Pinker in the case of cognitive science (Damasio 89).

Thus, Damasio differs with the Pinker’s definitions and explanations of consciousness as he uses neuroscience to divide a person’s conscious state into different states that affect and are related to different issues (Damasio 91). He argues that core consciousness affects how someone feels, about being excited or fatigued and the general wellness of an individual. Furthermore, he states that when we have a good feeling and the urge to be great then inwardly in mind, the core consciousness is transformed into a state of extended consciousness.

This new consciousness state is not related to a person’s intelligence or even cognitive ability. It makes the person aware that there is more to life that what they thought is humanly achievable. This successfully manipulates one’s ideas of being successful as such can propel an individual to further heights compared to what they had previously thought that they could be able to achieve.

Damasio also argues that when our consciousness is determined through neurology or neuroscience, it is prone to change. This means that at any instance our autobiographical self will always be changing since the ideas we tend to believe in are affected by our environment or how we perceive things, unlike Pinker’s argument where the consciousness that is defined by cognition never tends to be subjected to change (Damasio 123).

Another sharp contrast between the two authors’ arguments is how Damasio relates the mind to the body and argues that both are needed to create a neurological conscious. Pinker does not seem to relate the two and in essence, does not find a relation on how conscious is affected by cognition through the body even though the body is still needed to carry out what the conscious does tell us to do.

It is evident that without the body then the argument on conscious will be null and void as what we do either in the short term or long term affects our bodies, and that is how we notice we are acting from conscious.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both authors are correct in their respective ways as they have argued their cases and even provided examples as proof of what their argument entails. It is true that both cognitive science and neuroscience affect how our conscious develops since all human beings are subject to common sense, but not all human beings are subject to guilt.

This illustration from my personal view proves that both arguments are right even though there are instances where they appear to be at loggerheads. They both converge on a similar point that is both neuroscience and cognitive science affect our consciousness; they just do not agree on the extent.

Works Cited

Damasio, Antonio. The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness. New York, NY: Mariner Books, 2000, Print.

Pinker, Steven. How the Mind Works. New York, NY: Brilliance Publishers, 2012. Print.

States of Consciousness

Introduction

The discipline of psychology of behavioral science elicits numerous controversies about the origin of human behavior and in particular the states of consciousness. Consciousness is one unique aspect about humans for people do not only exist, but they also know, feel, and think about their existence.

Psychiatrists and behavioral scientists conceptualize differently the medical factors of behavior. However, many scientific researches have been analyzed to classify the concept of the state of consciousness with medical and psychological explanations of the different states associated with human behavior.

States of consciousness can be defined as the mental reactions or functioning, which can be felt by an individual as creating changes in psychological functioning of that individual’s normal state. State of consciousness is the ability by human beings to recognize changes and translate events happening within oneself and in the surrounding environment within which one operates. The state and quality of a person’s consciousness change from time to time depending on the way an individual is responding to normal body functioning.

Different people have different intensity of consciousness ranging from the normal response to behavioral abnormalities. The aim of this paper is to analyze the numerous states of consciousness, which are normally exhibited by individuals’ behaviors, as well as their feelings and thoughts. The various concepts will help in understanding the individuals’ states at normal conditions and give an insight to the state of being of an individual when the state of consciousness is altered.

Levels of consciousness

Human behavior is subject to biological functioning in the human body and external forces of the environment interacting with the body. The present biological factors, which are internally coordinated by genetic code, vary from one person to another. This description underscores the natural aspect of human behavior.

Environment, which people interact with, also alters the way the brain responds to different factors. For instance, environments causing pain and stress can lead to depression, and this induce sleep (Hewstone, Stroebe, & Jonas, 2012). Fellow individuals also influence one’s moods, reactions, and thoughts.

In most cases, the level of individuals’ consciousness depends on what matters to a given person and what one is able to notice; however, different events can influence an individual’s conscious state. The different levels include preconscious state and this level of consciousness is not within an individual’s present awareness, but it involves past feelings and thoughts that an individual can easily flashback and update to the immediate conscious state or awareness.

For instance, if asked to account activities of yesterday, it is easy to bring them to one’s current conscious and retell them. Secondly, non-consciousness is the level of consciousness involved in body functioning of activities beyond the conscious awareness. Examples include fluid flow, hormone functioning, making estimates of distance, and analyzing patterns among other psychodynamic experiences. Third is the unconscious state, which can also be referred to as subconscious.

It underscores a state of consciousness involving unfavorable feelings, memories beyond the conscious awareness, as well as wishes. It involves the processing unexpected information in a state, which one is unaware of the forces influencing the condition. It might be stimulation of the current state or even from past events.

The last state is unconsciousness, which is defined by the state of going out of normalcy like the loss of responsiveness to the dictating factors of disease, trauma, or shock. Sleep, drugs, or meditation can influence this state of consciousness. If the body is intoxicated under the influence of drugs and alcohol, the temperatures might go up, thus causing irregular brain waves as they adjust to find balance (Blackmore, 2005).

Characteristics of consciousness

Time to time awareness of individual experiences and environs are defined by personal subjectivity, where individuals are not in a position to tell what fellow individuals are experiencing. The state of consciousness is an individual feeling, which cannot be shared by individuals. Consciousness varies from time to time, which implies that it is dynamic. Everyday people experience various states of consciousness in a jointed flow of mental actions.

Consciousness is self-centered, as one’s mind is aware of its own state of being. The consciousness is connected to urgency of action. A situation that dictates what stimuli is given priority over others. Given that the mind is occupied by many mental activities, the consciousness predetermines what takes place first with the most urgent activities being illuminated first. The stability to prioritize actions can be altered by stimuli either developing from internal or external environment.

Conscious state makes human beings to adopt and adjust to new environments. The state of consciousness helps the mind to override impending dangers through automatic processing. Conscious state is present even when individuals fall asleep. For instance, individuals safely walk past objects when night walking.

Sleep and sleep patterns

Sleeping as well as dreams are states of consciousness involving rapid eye movements (REMs) in human beings. The eyes do not move uniformly as the intensity varies due to increased wave bursts in the brain activity. During deep sleep, individuals experience relatively slow eye movements, which are referred to as non-rapid eye movement. During deep sleep, electroencephalogram (EEG) indicates slow waves unlike in REMs.

EEG is the scientific procedure of recording brain waves. The types of brain waves include “alpha, beta, theta, and delta” (Teplan, 2012, p. 2.) When an individual wakes from a deep sleep, he or she can be in a position to give a rough account of what is happening, hence indicating that there is minimal mental action.

Children can experience sleepwalking and wet the bed during a deep sleep. Daydreaming involves fantasizing or quick occurrence of thoughts, which are not influenced by the external environment. Daydreaming can happen with the eyes either open or closed due to boredom, lack of dream sleep, or wishful thoughts. During sleep, individuals’ consciousness is compromised, thus limiting one’s control of what is happening to him or her.

During REM sleep, body functioning speeds up with the brain waves being highly rapid and irregular functioning just like in active wakefulness. Heart rate increases momentum and breathing rate increases too. Even though the body is aroused, the individual exhibits deep calmness, since no movements are made. REM sleep underscores the time when individuals experience most dreams.

People have different sleep patterns with some requiring more sleep time than others do. Some individuals need less than six hours to sleep and their body responds normally, while others will need nine hours for their bodies to perform normally. Little or insufficient sleep might result in negative body responses, thus leading to health disorders.

Individuals who get little sleep time respond by taking prolonged period in REM sleep. Infants take a lot of their time sleeping, thus experiencing long REM time. As people grow, they adapt to short sleep time and the time spent in REM sleep declines with age.

Sleep deprivation often occurs among students and workers who want to dedicate extra time to accomplish their activities. Psychologists have various insights as to why people need to get sufficient sleep. When deprived sleep, individuals express mood changes coupled with poor physical performances. People restore depleted energy and body tissues during sleep and if one is deprived of sleep, s/he ends up feeling tired and lazy during the day.

The functioning of the body and the brain keep working as people sleep. During sleep, the body experiences psychological changes, which are referred to as biological rhythms. Most body activities are regulated within the 24 hours’ day and night cycle.

Body temperature, hormonal secretions, and blood pressure among other body functioning experience a rhythmic change that alters individual’s mental awareness as well as coordinating states of wakefulness and sleep. Infradian rhythms are cycles in the body system, which go for more than twenty-four hours, for instance, menstrual periods in women.

Sleep stages

Individuals have been observed to undergo four phases of sleep each taking about a maximum of hundred minutes. Brain waves are slow and irregular at relaxed state of mind and body. Immediately an individual falls asleep, the EEG records beta waves. This stage shows a drop in body activities, for instance, the heart beat rate relatively drops together with body temperatures, while muscles relax. The mind stays alert and it might experience fantasies or wishful experiences.

At this stage, an individual can easily be aroused from sleep. Stage 3 experiences theta waves, which are usually slow and deep. Sleep is hard to be disrupted by the external environs and the individual makes minimal turnings. The fourth stage is defined by delta waves and the body drops to its lowest state of action. The individuals cannot be awakened easily, and sleepwalking happens at this deep stage. However, sleep patterns are subject to age with infants spending the most time while asleep.

Dreaming

Dreaming is a state of consciousness, which involves vivid imagery and at times auditory experiences that occur mostly during REM sleep. Most dreams resemble real events in life. The dream content can be influenced by both external and internal stimuli. Dreams represent unaccomplished or desired wishes, which are manifested in the dream.

In addition, dreams may be subject to the activities that people carryout during the day, and thus it might be an extension of the conscious activities of the day in an altered way. Psychoanalytic model explains dreaming as a way of gratifying people’s unconscious desires and wishes.

Through dreaming, unconscious needs can be met, but the individual dreaming does not wake up, and thus s/he sleeps calmly. Dream content to some extent reflects people’s cultural backgrounds and current practices of society. For instance, pregnant women explain dreams that relate to the myths of their society pertaining pregnancy (Blackmore, 2005).

Partial self-awareness

This phase is the most common state amongst many individuals as they undertake their daily activities. This phase entails a state of losing track of events and walking around as one undergoes motions that are important for survival as well as experiencing comfort with minimal awareness.

Waking sleep involves less satisfaction and discomfort coming from the external environment. In this state, the constant state of being with expectations of inflictions including conflicts with others and physical body malfunctions does not exist. When people move their attention to personal thoughts and feelings, they might experience daydream.

In most cases when individuals are alone, they tend to shift their thoughts and imaginations to private events, thus causing daydream. Daydreaming becomes less frequent as people grow older. As the conditions around someone become favorable, the individual resumes normal waking consciousness.

Normal waking consciousness

This state defines a situation where a person is aware of his or her thoughts and feelings and s/he can articulate events happening around him/her. An individual is in a position to answer questions such as where you are, what you are doing or thinking and what you intend to do next.

This state is organized uniformly, thus giving a person a stable condition that is suitable to judge other states of consciousness. As one undertakes daily activities, s/he may be distracted and end losing concentration of the current activity. These changes are normal and they are expected during waking consciousness. At this state, the body functioning stays balanced as the brain waves are regular.

Effects of drugs to the state of consciousness

Various psychoactive drugs and alcohol alter the state of consciousness to certain levels depending on quantity used. These drugs usually affect the brain functioning and they may result in hallucinations. The ability by an individual to make conscious decisions is altered. Drug abuse and alcohol consumption depresses the nervous system to the extent of slowing down crucial life processes and it may lead to death.

When a drug is used for a long time, the body system administers tolerance and awareness improves, but the brain state adjusts. Users of alcohol have low levels of awareness and they do not detect internal and external events easily as their concentration is poor, and thus it attends at one event at a time. In most cases, the selective attention does not prioritize on what activity should come first.

Learning

People learn to advance their status of awareness of events, personal experiences, and gain skills by processing various types of information. Learning does not occur at once, but rather it is a process. Learning occurs consciously in many cases, but it can also happen without one’s awareness. Learning serves the purpose of existence by steadily developing people’s conscious alertness to identify their capability to make conscious choices.

Conclusion

The topic on states of consciousness is an enigmatic issue despite numerous studies by psychologists to unravel the mystery. However, the state of consciousness is conventionally the behavioral and mental awareness of an individual. The states of difficulties in which people find themselves in require continued learning to facilitate the process of self-awareness. If individuals learn to make sufficient conscious decisions, then they will stand a good chance to understand their conditions and the environment around them.

Before the light of conscious awareness is realized, individuals always go through dark periods. Most people are becoming enlightened by learning to regulate their time and get sufficient sleep coupled with experiencing reduced setbacks. When human beings emerge out of the crisis surrounding the concept state of consciousness, there will be the hope of realizing themselves.

References

Blackmore, S. (2005). Consciousness: A very short introduction. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Hewstone, M., Stroebe, W., & Jonas, K. (2012). An introduction to social psychology. Chichester, UK: BPS Blackwell.

Teplan, M. (2012). Fundamentals of EEG Measurement. Measurement Science Review, 2(2), 1-11.

Information Closure Theory of Consciousness

Introduction

Consciousness pertains to the condition of the mind as it perceives people, things, and events. The ability to sense one’s immediate and even distant surroundings can be attributed to the consciousness of an individual.

The simplest example of consciousness can be exemplified by the capability of a person to feel that the wind is blowing against his face. Another level of consciousness may be associated with events that are occurring around and even beyond his sight, such as an individual who is aware that there is a war occurring in another country around the world. He is conscious that this is happening because he has seen this information from the news and has assimilated this recent information into his brain. This paper aims to discuss the theories involved in the study of consciousness and its associated bases.

Theories of Consciousness

There have been several attempts to study the concept of consciousness because the topic has been a focus of intrigue and mystery for the past several decades. To this extent, several theories regarding the concept of consciousness have been presented, all aimed towards the goal of generating a better understanding of this phenomenon, as well as providing solutions in those individuals that have been diagnosed with disorders associated with mental states. Two major schools of thought have arisen from these investigations. The physicalist school of thought examines consciousness at the physical level and even at its finer detail (Dretske 22). On the other hand, the anti-physicalist school of thought claims that consciousness can not be explained through physical attributes of the mind.

Another group of investigators that have attempted to study consciousness can be categorized as those schools of thought that follow deductive reasoning (Carruthers 46). The reductive school of thought generates theories that are simply based on objective reasoning. On the other hand, the anti-reductionist theories on consciousness claim that consciousness can be explained by observable facts and simple occurrences that are reported by observers. Most reports have originated from deductive reasoning, while almost the same amount of research is performed based on reductive and non-reductive theories.

Based on the two categories that have been described, consciousness is thus considered a unique topic that can be studied through the employment of two approaches. Since one approach is through physical means and the other approach is through phenomenal observation, the integration of these two approaches to the study of consciousness may be viewed through the combined theory of dualism. Such combination provides a more comprehensive approach in investigating the concept of consciousness and allows are validation of both approaches by providing opportunities for cross-examination of the results of each approach.

The phenomenal theory of consciousness is often conducted by observations of the mental states of different individuals. This theory is very interesting because it does not require any reduction in the mental state of an individual and thus simply collects information as it is directly observed among subjects of the study (Dennett 32). On the other hand, the reductionist theory of consciousness involves studies of individuals that are considered to be in a condition of lower or affected mental states, resulting in a reduction of consciousness. These attempts thus provide information on the functions of different components of the mind and its associated consciousness.

A representational correlation is often generated from reductionist-based theories on the study of consciousness. Research has thus described that consciousness is a resultant condition of causative and effectual factors that are influencing the mind. Simple mental states include sadness, which has been explained by the dualistic theory of consciousness as the result of grief and hurt that has been inculcated by an individual.

The functionalism theory of consciousness is a component of the phenomenal approach of mental states. One of the simplest examples of the functionalism theory of consciousness is the sight of a rainbow, together with its colors and the bow-shaped conformation of the rainbow itself. Such a phenomenon of seeing a rainbow through the consciousness of an individual thus provides a way of knowing that a person is still capable of seeing and perceiving things around him. Another interesting theory of consciousness is that of higher-order representationalism, wherein consciousness is explained as a means of representing things (Kriegel 33).

For example, the sensation of a tickle at an individual’s feet is not simply the result of being physically tickled, but a representation that the feet themselves are sensitive to tickles. Thus the same sensation of being tickled will always be observed even when the intention of coming in contact with an individual’s foot is not to tickle but maybe simply accidental. This higher-order representation thus provides another way of understanding responses of the mind based on its stimulus.

Another theory of consciousness is the self-representational approach which describes that consciousness serves as a simple representation of one’s self (Charmers 67). A simple example of this theory is to sit at the computer as one tries to type a letter to an individual. The writer sitting at the computer is thus only conscious of his position on his seat and the presence of his hands as his fingers continue to hit specific keys on the keyboard of the computer.

The individual is not conscious of his legs or his hair because he is busy composing a letter and making sure that he can hit the right keys on the keyboard to complete his letter. So during this state, the individual considers his hands as the representation of himself and the rest of the body is unimportant for the meantime.

There are several theories on human consciousness. According to Velmans (1996), the perception of an individual is a phenomenon that involves images that are created in the mind and projected out to the individual’s surrounding world. The Velmans theory thus involves generating information in the brain and what is seen in the environment is thus what the brain instructs the body to see. Other scientists consider Velmans theory of consciousness as a perceptual projection. To look at this concept critically, it is possible to agree to this theory on consciousness, that the environment or world around us will look like what is conceived in the brain.

For example, when an individual feels happy, everything he sees around him looks good. On the other hand, when an individual feels sad, the rest of his environment looks dull to him. This perceptual projection notion of Velmans may thus not fully explain the concept of human consciousness because there may be at least two issues that may be perceived by an individual as similar, yet in the actual sense, these two independent issues may mean different messages.

The mind may thus project a different meaning, depending on each individual’s perception, but this theory does not holistically explain how human consciousness works. More importantly, Velmans theory of consciousness does not distinguish reality from illusions of the mind because the theory only focuses on what the brain expresses to the rest of the body. The Velmans theory of consciousness may thus be helpful only in certain cases wherein psychology and its associated modified forms are needed to be analyzed, but to understand the theory of consciousness as a whole, the Velmans theory is not stable and sufficient enough to provide answers to specific questions.

Another theory of consciousness is that designed by Dennett (1991), which employs the contact of mystification in the perception of issues around an individual. In this particular theory of consciousness, every concept can be explained by the conscious feelings of an individual, as well as to things and other people. The Dennett theory of consciousness is thus another way of looking into the manner of how people may perceive things, but there are instances when one cannot use mystification in explaining every emotion that an individual feels.

This misguiding concern is based on the theory that even a simple item can be considered by an individual as a living entity and thus an individual may project emotions towards this particular material item. For example, an individual may say that his car is so tired from going around the town for the entire day, or his soup dish is thirsty so he needs to give the dish more water. Such a stance may be helpful in certain situations, yet when this theory of consciousness is employed for the majority of mental conditions, it will not likely solve and help a patient is feeling better or in perceiving that their immediate surroundings (Danckert 1037).

Another theory of consciousness is described by Flanagan (1996), which pertains to constructive naturalism, which employs the neurophysiological information in explaining brain sensitivity and consciousness. In his theory, phenomena are the prime movers for understanding how the mind works. A method of triangulation is also employed in his explanation of consciousness, wherein the brain, cognition, and phenomenon are unified into a novel philosophy for consciousness.

However, this theory may be prudent because there may be some very simple issues yet the application of his theory makes the issue appear to be very complicated. In addition, the inclusion of intuition in the analysis of events may result in making events mundane and unexplainable, although these are straightforward. Flanagan’s (1996) theory thus serves a purpose in the assessment of the unified theory of consciousness—that there is a need for a sensible, credible, and reliable investigation of human consciousness, to better understand how the mind works.

There are several objections and complications to the theories of consciousness. One complication to the physicalist theory of consciousness is that there are certain situations when people feel numb or as well as often say, zombie-like. Individuals at this state often feel insensitive to any type of emotion and they find themselves unable to appreciate or enjoy any type of activity, of which they know they used to enjoy performing. Individuals positively diagnosed with depression and generally found in this state of slack, wherein nothing is fun anymore and they tend to hide in their bedrooms or homes and choose to stay away and interact with family and friends.

Such a mental state of consciousness is thus difficult to understand because the reductionist theory of consciousness states that there should be a significant injury to the brain that results in the separation of an individual from the rest of the society (Danckert 84). However, in the condition of depressed individuals, their physical brains are intact, uninjured, and not even decreased in their function, yet they tend to move away from chances of interactions with the rest of the society. Such opposing explanations from these different schools of thought of consciousness are thus difficult to explain in terms of depression.

Adolescence is a stage of human development, which involves the maturation of a child into an adult. This stage generally involves biological, social, and psychological modifications within a child. According to the World Health Organization, adolescence is that stage of human life that starts at age 10 and ends at approximately 19 years of age (Goodburn 23). Oftentimes, the word teenager is used to depict an adolescent. In psychology, adolescence is strongly correlated with perceptions of self-esteem and body image.

Self-esteem is generally related to an individual’s sense of value. It can also denote the level of approval and appreciation an individual feels about himself. Almost fifty years ago, the definition of self-esteem was simply equated to whether an individual carries a favorable or unfavorable way of thinking towards himself (Rosenberg 47). Self-esteem is also believed to signify self-confidence about specific personal issues. It is thus regarded to operate like a trait and it usually lasts for a long time in individuals. This psychological concept of self-worth is commonly correlated with psychological concepts such as personality, behavior, cognition, and health.

Conclusion

There is a strong relationship between an individual image and consciousness. Theories of consciousness are powerfully influenced by an individual’s level of self-esteem and self-image. There are several theories on human consciousness. According to Velmans (1996), the perception of an individual is a phenomenon that involves images that are created in the mind and projected out to the individual’s surrounding world.

In Dennett’s (1991) theory of consciousness, every concept can be explained by the conscious feelings of an individual, as well as to things and other people. On the other hand, Flanagan (1994) claimed that phenomena are the prime movers for understanding how the mind works. Putting these theories altogether, it is thus observed that every developmental stage is characterized and influenced by the time when an individual learns more about his own identity, strengths, and weaknesses.

Hence, adolescents must be socially supported by their family and friends because any mental or psychological damage that adolescent experiences may strengthen or weaken the social identity of an adolescent. More importantly, the chronological impact of social and psychological events plays a major role in the normal human consciousness. Hence a balance between independence and dependence with the rest of an individual’s development should be achieved to develop into a well-matured individual.

References

Baars B. A Cognitive Theory of Consciousness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 328 pages. 1988.

Carruthers P. Phenomenal Consciousness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 241 pages, 2000.

Chalmers, D. J. The Conscious Mind. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 224 pages, 1996.

Danckert J. and Y Rossetti. “Blindsight In Action: What Can The Different Sub-types Of Blindsight Tell Us About The Control Of Visually Guided Actions?”. Neuroscience Biobehavorial Reviews 29(2005):1035–1046.

Dennett DC. Consciousness Explained. Boston, MA: Little Brown, 342 pages, 1991.

Dretske FI. Naturalizing the Mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 126 pages, 1995.

Flanagan O. Consciousness reconsidered. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1994.

Kriegel U. “Consciousness As Intransitive Self-Consciousness: Two Views and an Argument.” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 33(2003):103–32.

Goodburn EA and DA Ross. A Picture Of Health: A Review And Annotated Bibliography Of The Health Of Young People In Developing Countries. Switzerland: World Health Organization and UNICEF 75 pages, 1995.

Rosenberg M. Society And The Adolescent Self-image. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 326 pages, 1965.

Velmans M. The Science of Consciousness: Psychological, Neuropsychological and Clinical Reviews. London: Routledge, 1996.

Evolution and the Cognitive Neuroscience of Awareness and Consciousness

Introduction

Cognition is a state of mind that enables brain to perceive and process sensory functions like touch, smell, taste, hearing and vision. Its requirement is essential for all living beings to adapt to various environmental conditions. To better understand this neurological task there is a need to focus on the connection between brain and awareness. Awareness is a state of mind that determines the individual’s ability to perceive environmental changes by attention.

The levels of attention may vary between individuals and in certain cases its defect could also lead to attention–deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).This neurological illness particularly affects children or young adolescents by causing a decline in their attention levels and ultimately leading to poor educational outcomes (Loe & Feldman, 2007).

Main text

Awareness is believed to have strong link with working memory (WM) which gets activated in patterns from representations. If a person is allowed to visualize the color, movement and shading of an object keenly, he might easily perceive them. This may be because in the visual system there may be representations of these tasks constructed from the native pattern of cell activation in the retina (Charlton, 2000). Previous studies have reported that awareness could be better studied by measuring the performance of various memory tasks while monitoring gaze direction, delaying responses, and recording brain activity (Charlton, 2000).

Individuals having memory retention problems may fall victim to a condition of ‘unawareness when they fail to perceive and interpret the changes different from those visualized earlier (Silva, Groeger & Bradshaw, 2006).

Individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have memory impairment and defects in self-awareness (Mimura, 2008).These reports indicate that awareness defects are having strong pathological connection with diseases.

Next, awareness of body states constitutes consciousness. Although, both are related they seem to differ on the grounds that awareness is found in all the animals of animal kingdom and consciousness is found in only socially adapted primates such as chimpanzees and bonobos and other mammals like elephants and dolphins. Both these animal members were believed to evolve recently (Charlton, 2000).

This was further strengthened by a report that described that many animals come across simple levels of consciousness when they were found to show a comparable awareness of certain similarly conditioned human tasks (Griffin & Speck, 2004).

Since, consciousness was earlier found in specific primates, it could have also evolved in other primate members including human beings and developed over the time. Therefore, it may indicate that consciousness found in present-day human beings may have its evolutionary linkage with their primate ancestors.

Further, it is reasonable to connect the relationship between awareness and memory with the concept of feeling of knowing. Spehn and Reder (2000) highlighted that feelings of knowing are generated through the monitoring of one’s knowledge and such process could enable behavior to search memory for an answer. To consider an example, in an earlier clinical study, questionnaires were conducted to obtain information about past history of drugs and illnesses from patients. To better assist them, researchers also revealed the brand names of drugs to make the identification process easier. (Carol Louik et al., 2007). The collected information was later evaluated in assessing the connection between previous drug exposure and birth defects.

The reliability of this questionnaire would surely depend on the patient’s ability to recall the relevant past events. Here, a feeling of knowing will be only perceived by the patient when he monitors his previous drug knowledge by searching the memory.

In reality, the patient may not know that he has enough drug knowledge. But it is the questionnaire initiated monitoring and memory search process that enabled a feeling in the patient that he knows about the drugs used.

This process of possessing the knowledge without knowing could be explored by a variety of experiments.Dienes (2008) described a method of confidence ratings after making judgments in order to show that the person has knowledge, but does not know that he has it.

Therefore, unconscious awareness may appear hidden but may have some benefits when it becomes apparent. From the above example, it was understood that memory has played vital role in driving the conscious and unconscious awareness.

It is essential to know the neuroanatomy of the brain for better understanding the evolutionary aspects of consciousness.

Earlier workers described a hypothesis stating that evolutionary origin of consciousness is

  1. Neuroanatomical,
  2. in accord with biological evolution,
  3. utilizes the most highly evolved structures of the cerebral cortex with their ultramicrosite operation and
  4. based on quantum physics (Eccles, 1992).

This hypothesis may indicate that evolution has influenced the anatomical wiring of the brain to get adapted to different biological conditions. This anatomical setting might have reinforced the cognition properties of brain to execute normal biological functions. So, keeping in view of the hypothesis, some of the structural elements of brain that are believed to affect consciousness are apical dendrites, dendrons and psychons.

It was described that consciousness is microgranular in nature and composed of mental units called psychons whereas dendrons, the collection of apical dendrites possess the potential to interact with psychons which came into existence to form the mental world and give the mammal conscious experience (Eccles, 1992).This has ultimately lead to evolutionary advantage in mammals over other members of the animal kingdom such as reptiles.

To further strengthen this evolutionary concept of consciousness and the much-related perception, it is reasonable to highlight about the cerebral cortex, also known visual cortex. Vision may be considered as the most important function which is controlled by the cerebral cortex of brain that is divided into dorsal and ventral streams. Both these streams start in primary visual cortex V1, and extend to posterior parietal cortex and extrastriate cortical regions, respectively. Dorsal stream is mainly involved in spatial consciousness, location of objects in space and regulation of actions. Ventral stream is involved in identification of objects and representation of structure.

The dorsal stream provides a thorough map of the visual field, precise body image, awareness and understanding of spatial relationships, noticing and examining the movements, gaining knowledge of tasks that involve coordination of the body in space. The ventral stream is influenced by factors known as extra retinal such as attention, working memory and stimulus salience.

Previously, the role of primary visual cortex in contributing to visual experience was considered controversial, but subsequent studies have provided better insights that V1 might be necessary for conscious perception (Tong, 2003).This report was further confirmed by a study that not only highlighted the importance of V1 in consciousness but also described an association between visual processing and the perceptual delaying (Lin, 2008).These studies may indicate that cerebral cortex has evolved specifically to perform environmentally adapted functions.

Very often, unconsciousness may interfere during the visual perception of the outside world by blocking the information from getting processed in the visual cortex. This could also form the basis for poor memory. Since awareness is related with thinking and memory, it can be inferred that unconscious awareness may arise due to abnormal thinking behavior.

For example, daydreaming is recognized as one of the symptoms of ADHD.Individuals with this disorder may develop unconsciously awareness when they enter into dreaming initiated deep thinking, which affects their daytime activities. In adult’s age-related disorders like dementia or Alzheimer’s may create awareness problems.

Hence, individuals with conscious awareness may have better memory because of no unconscious interference or blockage of information in any form. Therefore, it is clear that learning behavior might greatly vary among people with different levels of conscious or unconscious awareness.

Further, the existence of awareness may facilitate an animal or human being to perform environmentally adapted activity. For example, the highly evolved cerebral cortex in mammals concerned with spatial consciousness may not only enable animals to locate their prey in their vicinity but also guides a search behavior.

These highly adapted biological functions that require intelligence are common in every living being indicating a strong evolutionary connection. Hence, consciousness was modified as an important meaningful aspect of intelligence for social situations. Therefore, this kind of mechanism, where internal body states are regulated in response to environment may be better described as the somatic marker mechanism (SMM) (Charlton, 2000).

This mechanism was believed to evolve with the objective of determining social information and promote well planned social intelligence. In addition, SMM is also considered as a crucial phase of theory of mind mechanism (Tomm) that is essential for definite behavior and its interpretation from the mental inferences (Charlton, 2000).

Most animals choose a definite behavior of searching for their prey. This learning attitude may be obtained from inferences that tell the presence or absence of prey and direct them to a specific location. These instances of spatial learning could support the SMM.

In certain situations, conscious awareness may not enable a patient to perceive changes in body states such as fatigue. Mostly, all sportsmen are prone to fatigue after a strenuous exercise. They would not perceive any changes unless they experience the feeling of tiredness. Previously, it was described that the feeling of fatigue is derived subconsciously from the differences in homeostatic control systems of brain (Clair Gibson Alan et al., 2003).

It may indicate that an internal unconscious or subconscious state of mind may be regulating the behavior that would enable him to perceive the changes, making him consciously aware of situation. In other words, a week feeling or stimuli of tiredness would be perceived subliminally without his awareness. This process is termed as subliminal perception which can be considered as another form of unconscious awareness. It generally occurs when stimuli presented below a constraint for awareness are found to influence thoughts, feelings, or actions and reported to occur in people with neurological disorders (Kazdin, 2000).

Prosopagnosia is a disorder that makes patients to forget familiar faces.Here, irrespective of previous interactions, patients will be in a condition to question that person as if they have not seen him earlier. It indicates that people with prosopagnosia have lost the ability to perceive information regardless of faces they are viewing (Kazdin, 2000).

Further, unconscious bias is another form where individuals exhibit prejudice towards females, more commonly known as gender bias. Many people while casting votes may support female contestants in elections and elevate to higher positions regardless of their character or behavior. Here, while perceiving women people are unable to evaluate themselves. People also show unconscious bias in their tendency to favor white men while neglecting black men.

In some cases, unconscious bias may also play role in fame judgment. Because, some individuals tend to prefer the name of a famous person just by considering his or her previous records irrespective of any present circumstances. Banaji and Greenwald (1995) reported a fame judgment study that when famous names of both male and female were pronounced, there was greater assignment of fame to famous male than famous female names, by the participants. These examples indicate that people are consciously aware but show a kind of ‘subliminal perception’ in their decision that would influence their actions.

Kiesel et al. (2006) described that actions that are experienced as freely chosen are controlled without the conscious awareness and manipulation of individuals. Therefore, it can be inferred that decision making which is vital in our daily lives is most prominently influenced by interplay between conscious and unconscious awareness. Hence, it may also appear reasonable to associate unconscious bias with the concept of subliminal perception which suggests that peoples’ thoughts, feelings and actions are influenced by stimuli that are perceived without any awareness of perception (Kazdin, 2000).

Conscious perception enables a person to better focus on problem-solving skills and perform a given job through the aid of visual memory. Earlier workers described that individuals were found to have better visual working memory when they remembered the objects grouped bottom-up compared to ungrouped objects, according to gestalt grouping principles (Woodman, Vecera & Luck, 2003).

Finally, in order to consider how the neural activity gives rise to human thought it is imperative to focus on the previous section of this description that highlighted the role of cerebral cortex in visual processing.

Steven Yantis et al. (2002) described that the activation of parietal cortex is associated with a discrete signal to change spatial attention. According to the most favored transient hypothesis, activity of parietal lobes might be related to the act of shifting attention from one location to another. This hypothesis may appear supporting to the concept of spatial learning in animals and human beings that guides search behavior.

In view of the above information it is clear that neurocognition is largely influenced by conscious and unconscious awareness. Conscious feeling has wide role to play in performing various environmentally adapted activities. But this process was found to get hindered by the interference of unconsciousness or inattention in certain situations. Deep thinking and feeling of knowing have clues related to unconscious awareness. Therefore, the function of working memory (WM) may be considered vital in assessing the degree of perceived and processed information.

Summary

Evolutionary studies have centered their focus in linking the neuroanatomical structures such as cerebral cortex with visual perception indicating its highly adapted biological role.

The importance of cerebral cortex was also understood in the light of neural activity that is essential for attention shifts as evident from the transient hypothesis. Two mechanisms SMM and ToMM have been hypothesized that underscored the importance of evaluating social interactions with intelligence. Unconscious bias was found to influence actions of prejudice by providing a possible link to subliminal perception.

The concept of subliminal perception may seem to have better implications for studying a wide range of awareness problems associated with neurological syndromes. However, with the available literature it is obvious that further studies may be required to better evaluate all important facets of neurocognition.

References

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Altered State of Consciousness

Introduction

An altered state of consciousness occurs when a person’s mental state is changed by some trauma occurrence or induction from certain foods or drugs or through meditation. The individual’s consciousness changes into a wandering, focused, or concentrated state, but they remain conscious. In addition, the level of awareness could be low or high during the altered state of consciousness. With low awareness, the person receives and processes signals in the brain but is not actively thinking. With high awareness, the individual is actively thinking and controlling their thought processes. Heightened awareness is achieved through exercises such as meditation and mindfulness, while lowered awareness can result in sleep. Although some states of altered consciousness are not beneficial to the body, hypnosis creates a hyper-awareness state, helping individuals manage stress and pain while in the altered state.

Background Information

Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness where a person experiences heightened awareness levels. During the hypnotic moment, the individual has increased suggestibility, concentration, and attention levels. Hypnosis can be achieved by following recorded instructions, listening to certain kinds of music, verbal repetition, and creating mental images. During the hypnotic state, a person feels relaxed and calm, which helps them control anxiety and pain. While there is no definitive time for how long hypnosis lasts, most hypnotherapy sessions take one to two hours. However, the exact time spent in trance or the altered consciousness state could be 20 to 30 minutes.

Ending the hypnotic state to return to an ‘ordinary’ consciousness state depends on the methods used to hypnotize oneself. For example, if an individual is helped by a hypnotherapist into a trance state, the therapist will guide them back to an ordinary state. However, in self-hypnosis, the person must utilize a reversed order of the events or activities used to enter into the hypnotic state. People who love swimming could deepen their hypnotic experience by imagining that they are swimming away into the deepest corner of the sea. In such a case, coming back from a hypnotic state will require the imagination of swimming back to the shore.

Analysis

While there are proven benefits of hypnosis, some pitfalls still exist. The altered state of consciousness helps with behavioral changes such as weight loss, smoking cessation, and stopping bedwetting. It also aids in pain management during childbirth and dental procedures and symptom reduction for ADHD, dementia, cancer, or irritable bowel syndrome conditions. A major drawback of hypnosis is temporary amnesia that may occur during the process but is experienced in rare cases. Other negatives of hypnosis are linked to myths and perceptions portrayed in popular media. For example, the benefits of hypnosis are exaggerated to include memory enhancement and improvement of physical capabilities and people mistakenly seek to achieve these outcomes in hypnotherapy. Another example is the misconception that one could be hypnotized without consent, which is untrue because the process needs voluntary participation.

The most essential lesson from altered states of consciousness is that most of the states are beneficial to the human body. For example, the altered states achieved through mindfulness, sleeping, and meditation are key in restoring the body to healthy functioning and strengthening its ability to withstand pain and deal with anxiety. For instance, hypnotherapy is useful in alleviating pain in conditions where medicine may not be effective.

Conclusion

In this paper, hypnosis is discussed as an altered state of consciousness that creates a hyper-awareness state to help people manage anxiety and pain. It includes an introductory paragraph defining the altered state of consciousness, a background information section that details hypnosis, and an analysis section for the pitfalls and benefits of hypnotherapy. Although there are some negative states of altered consciousness, hypnosis is discussed as a positive heightened awareness state.

Consciousness in Buddha’s Discourse

Alternative teachings about the world to those Buddhism are not welcomed positively. Such was the case when Sati tried to alter the meaning of the term consciousness. This new understanding was equated to opening the box of Pandora by the Blessed One. As a result, it was regarded as a problem that arose from the pernicious view of a bhikkhu named Sati, addressed as the son of a fisherman, over the Dharma taught by the Blessed One about consciousness. Sati quoted that his pernicious view about consciousness was that “consciousness ran and wandered through the round of rebirths and another” (MN 38.2).

Such a view was deemed outrageous and against the Dharma taught by the Blessed One, who was highly revered. Therefore, fellow bhikkhus tried to detach Sati from what the other bhikkhus regarded as misrepresentation of the Blessed One’s Dharma. All efforts to dissuade him from his view were in vain resulting to tabling the matter to the Blessed One, who explained his view about the conditions. Hence, Sati might have been entangled in the conditions and it was imperative to disentangle him; otherwise the view-deemed pernicious- would result in his ruin and that of anyone else who would consider supporting this pernicious view.

Argument

The argument arose from Sati’s pernicious view and the Blessed One’s Dharma. The Blessed One explained his Dharma using various concepts. To begin with, the Blessed One demonstrated how “consciousness was reckoned by the dependent condition” from which it arose using various examples (38.8). For example, in the same way that “fire is reckoned by the condition dependent on which it burns” is the same way that consciousness is reckoned (MN 38.8).

Therefore, if consciousness arises dependent on the tongue and flavors, it is reckoned as tongue consciousness. Secondly, consciousness was deemed a nutriment that originates or is produced from a craving. Craving is attributed to feeling, which subsequently arises from contact that sequentially originates from the six fold base. Ultimately, ignorance is deemed as the source of all the nutrients (MN 38.16). The Blessed One then reiterated in a converse manner, “But with the remainderless fading away and cessation of ignorance comes cessation of formations and associated conditions” (MN 38.20).

This argument clearly indicates the chain of conditions that give rise to consciousness, and what stems from consciousness. This holistic view led to the notion that Sati’s pernicious view might have emerged from the same consciousness which will ultimately lead to craving and a clinging. The clinging, in this case, which is Sati’s adamant understanding of consciousness, would result in the birth of great misfortunes. The pernicious view by Sati was deemed as a craving that he ought to have suppressed. The use of the synergistic relationship between conditions was used to indicate the source of Sati’s pernicious view, and its associated consequences.

This sequence is noted by the Blessed One in his quote, “Good, bhikkhus. So you say thus, and I also say thus: ‘When this exists, that comes to be; with the arising of this, that arises’” (MN 38.19). Thirdly, the Blessed One used the concept of disorderliness and conflict. The Blessed One asks. “Knowing and seeing in this way, would you return to the observances, tumultuous debates, and auspicious signs of ordinary recluses and Brahmins, taking them as the core [of the holy life]?” (MN 38.23). Using this concept, the Blessed One indicated that this pernicious view was linking an unknown past and unknown future with the present, and this would result in great internal conflict that would give rise to the different conditions, whose ultimate result would be pain, sorrow, lamentation, ageing and death.

Conviction

The argument given by the Blessed One is convincing because it typically defines the human nature, which seeks to fulfill its desires in an array of ways. In this instance, the Blessed One indicated that Sati was craving for the Blessed One’s position; hence, it might have been the reason for his pernicious view that aimed at misrepresenting the Blessed One. Using the conditions, the Blessed One highlighted:

Bhikkhus, do you see: ‘This has come to be’?”; “Bhikkhus, do you see: ‘Its origination occurs with that as nutriment’?”; “Bhikkhus, do you see: ‘With the cessation of that nutriment, what has come to be is subject to cessation’? (MN 38.9). Using these statements, the Blessed One had analyzed the situation and already given the verdict. These statements are convincing because they indicate that it was out of Sati’s ignorance that he formed his own perceptions of the term consciousness, which he interacted with and vehemently clung to resulting in the being/existence of the new view.

The use of the teacher and student illustration by the Blessed One indicated that Sati wanted to be like the Blessed One: lustful of the Blessed One’s position. Sati’s new view would give rise to a chain of misfortunes; hence, cessation from such a view was paramount. Sati’s ignorance had been intensified by lust, and due to his inability to control his senses, he had acted without trying to govern his mind; indicating his lack of wisdom.

Works cited

Nanamoli, Bhikkhu, and B. Bodhi. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya (Teachings of the Buddha). Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 1995. Print.

Rights and Self-Consciousness

Introduction

Different philosophers’ approaches to the concept of human consciousness and the thought process are unique. Some of them believed that thought was an indicator of consciousness and existence, and for someone, a simple way of thinking was not enough. Their opinions about how the human mind works are different; the analysis of specific approaches can help develop a rather exciting topic and reveal the relationship between the thought process and what people call life. For this purpose, a deductive method is suited best, that is, the search for the truth through an analysis from the general sense to separate points.

Descartes’ Arguments Concerning Mind and Self-Consciousness

Self-consciousness is a person’s assessment of himself or herself as a thinking individual subject. According to Descartes, the existence of the body without consciousness is impossible since the philosopher considers this situation not only from theological but also a scientific point of view. The author noted that the human body was like a container that was filled with life (Descartes). Consequently, if anyone removed all living things from this container, it would remain empty and useless. Such a theory of the separation of consciousness is also actively used today.

According to Descartes, the only thing given to a person is a fact of thinking, which is achieved through understanding and self-awareness. For the philosopher, the mind was considered the highest value, and he repeatedly highlighted that only through his thoughts could he understand the world around him and appreciate the importance of human existence (Descartes). This approach is one of the most famous today and is regularly interpreted and cited by many modern philosophers.

Deductions to Reveal Descartes’ Approach

In order to show how the deductive method based on Descartes’ theory of human consciousness looks, it is possible to apply it on the example of a computer to prove that an inanimate organism has no self-consciousness and mind. For example:

  • If computers have mind, they have thoughts.
  • Computers do not have thoughts.
  • Consequently, computers do not have mind.

It is possible to make another example of similar deduction:

  • If computers have feelings, they have mind.
  • Computers do not have feelings.
  • Accordingly, computers do not have mind.

Connection Between Rights and Self-Consciousness

Rights are an integral part of a free and equal society. Hobbes viewed human beings as the main bearers of rights and believed that it was people who influenced the world order (Baumgold 25). The philosophy of such a type is typical for many modern scientists; however, Hobbes was one of the first who initiated the political idea that exists today. His theory concerning people and their rights is inextricably connected with such modern terms as conservatism and radicalism (Baumgold 25). Therefore, the philosopher’s influence on the formation of politics is significant.

Also, there is a relationship between the possibility of having rights and self-consciousness. It is quite difficult to imagine that people who are incapable of thinking and concluding can use their rights and regard freedom as something vital. Probably, the higher the level of self-awareness a particular person has, the more opportunities he or she has to dispose of rights according to personal motives and interests. Thus, the link between these two concepts is quite evident and can be explained with the help of deductions.

Deductions to Present Computers as Possible Bearers of Rights

In order to try to consider an inanimate organism, for example, a computer, as a potential bearer of rights, it is possible to make several deductions. Each of them is designed to show whether it is real to evaluate an object without self-consciousness as the one that can have personal rights. These deductions can be as follows:

  • If computers have rights, they can ask for freedom.
  • Computers cannot ask for freedom.
  • Consequently, computers have no rights.

Another deduction to reveal the lack of relationship between machines and rights is as follows:

  • If computers are interested in observing their laws, they have rights.
  • Computers are not interested in observing their laws.
  • Accordingly, computers have no rights.

Personal Identity and Reasoning about Neuro-Prosthetic Replacement

Personal identity is an indicator of human interests and preferences and, to a certain extent, can withstand physical changes. For example, according to Ryle, people’s awareness of the characteristics of their personality and the opportunities that can be achieved through this understanding helps prevent any potential changes in organisms (166). For example, the ability of auto-suggestion and persuasion allows slowing down the aging process and ensuring that the body reacts to specific commands that the brain gives.

As it is known, a person’s personality is determined by his or her experience and knowledge and develops due to acquired properties. In the process of development, the brain activity is an essential feature, and a potential neuro-prosthetic replacement may save a person’s life, but certainly will not allow him or her to remain the same as before. The fact is that the information stored in the brain, in particular, memory is one of the key attributes that determine the human personality (Schore 177). Therefore, in case of a replacement, any person will turn into an ordinary living organism that has no signs of mind.

Accordingly, if the brain is subject to replacement, a person will almost certainly not remain the same as before. All the accumulated information that is stored by the neurons of the brain will be lost, and a human shell with a new brain will be almost entirely useless. Jackson remarks that the actual world is mainly physical (291). Nevertheless, the lack of experience and self-consciousness will likely not give a person an opportunity to perceive the environment adequately and sensibly.

Deductions to Demonstrate the Connection Between Personal Identity and the Brain

Possible deductions that help to reflect the relationship between personal identity and the brain are an excellent way to assess any potential link. Thus, in the process of drawing up such schemes, no connection was found. Here are the following deductions:

  • If a person has a neuro-prosthetic replacement, experience and knowledge remain.
  • Together with the replacement of the brain, self-consciousness disappears.
  • Accordingly, if a person has a neuro-prosthetic replacement, experience and knowledge do not remain.

Here is another possible deduction:

  • Personal identity is preserved with a neuro-prosthetic replacement.
  • A neuro-prosthetic replacement changes perceptions.
  • Consequently, personal identity is not preserved with a neuro-prosthetic replacement.

Analysis of the Simulated Consciousness

The simulated consciousness called Nu-Me cannot be viewed as a system with a personal identity. The reasons for the separation of mind from the body can be different, for example, it is a desire for technical progress or attempts to learn the secret of the human mind. According to Descartes, to determine whether this or that entity has self-consciousness, it is possible to use a simple technique to assess the degree of skills acquired over a lifetime. Artificial system is unlikely to succeed in it. It can be noted that to have consciousness, it is required to represent a particular type of behavior, that is, to demonstrate not only the ability to think complexly but also show relevant skills obtained through experience and analysis.

Nu-Me can hardly be considered a person. The concept of whether to endow such a system with rights is controversial. As Ryle notes, the artificial mind does not need to be aware of its rights and freedoms in the context of the surrounding world (166). Consequently, such a system does not want rights that are necessary for a thinking human being. Therefore, the nature of a person is inextricably linked not only with self-consciousness but also with the use of rights and freedoms.

If I had to transfer my experience and knowledge to an artificial consciousness like Nu-Me, I think that I would hardly have remained the same person. As Plato remarks, self-awareness is possible in the body that is ready to accept experience (8). Accordingly, the mind that will be moved from the body to the machine will not be able to function in a new shell. Also, the physiological features of the brain structure are unlikely to allow achieving a complete identity. Therefore, this idea of transferring consciousness is controversial enough.

Conclusion

Thus, a deductive method used by many philosophers is an efficient way of solving many problems, including the one that has to do with human self-consciousness. Attempts to analyze the opinions of well-known personalities can help in the process of assessing certain issues. The human mind has different features and properties and can be viewed from the point of view of various aspects and approaches.

Works Cited

Baumgold, Deborah. Hobbes’s Political Theory. Cambridge University Press, 1988.

Descartes, Rene. The Philosophy of Descartes: Containing the Method, Meditations, and Other Works. Edited by David B. Manley and Charles, S. Taylor. Web.

Jackson, Frank. “What Mary Didn’t Know.” The Journal of Philosophy, vol. 83, no. 5, 1986, 291-295.

Plato. The Apology of Socrates. Translated by Benjamin Jowett, Dutch Renaissance Press, 2014.

Ryle, Gilbert. The Concept of Mind. 60th ed., Routledge, 2009.

Schore, Allan N. Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self: The Neurobiology of Emotional Development. Routledge, 2015.

Free Will and Willpower: Is Consciousness Necessary?

Our whole life revolves on decisions we make and decisions we take. From the day a child is born, there begins a process of decision-making. Sometimes we are carried by our emotions while making decisions while on the other hand we are carried by the uncertainties’. Then we make what would come out to be the best decision of our life. Decisions take place consciously or subconsciously. Conscious decision-making implies when we are conscious about our thoughts, our plans and our desires, analyze its implications and its benefits, we make decisions and feel self motivated. we make decision we feel self-motivated. Persons, who are conscious controlled about their decision- makingers make the human beings to dominate their routines, exercise control over the willpower, find innovative solutions, make collective decisions and justify their choices. (this sentence is correct) We can define consciousness as, “It is the very substance of mental life that not only makes life personally manageable but also worth living. A functional consciousness involves purposive accessing and deliberative processing of information for selecting, constructing, regulating and evaluating courses of action.” (Bandura, 3) This is achieved through intentional mobilization and productive use of semantic and pragmatic representations of activities, goals and future events and comes at a cost of price; consciously made decisions are likely to come up with the number of biases.

But,, if we go by the rational choice theory and several other perceptions,, the performance of the conscious decision makers rates poorly. But if people abstain themselves from the conscious control, and think beyond rational ground on certain tasks, then their performance would be better and they would better be able to handle large amount of information, update themselves and find adequate solutions to define their problems in a better way. In many cases, decisions are made unconsciously without being aware of any consequences. We simply make decision, yes or nowhether or not on the basis of our desires or emotions.

Neuroscientists are trying to find out the reason of these happenings peering deep into our brains. Scientists have discovered that we all have dog brains, especially with human cortexes stuck on the top. Neuroscientists found out the fact that our animal brains conform to the modern cortex to create an influence over the choices. The discovery have been made by scientists that there are certain reward circuits in the brain, which are activated in response to cocaine, chocolate, sex, and music and also find gratification by merely making anticipations about the money or in taking revenge. There are certain aversion circuits also in the brain, which are threatened to the physical pain and also pose reaction if we feel cheated by our partner.

Gardiner Morse, Senior Editor of HBR stated, “our emotional brains needn’t always operate beneath our radar. Although our dog brains sometimes hijack our higher cognitive functions to drive bad, or at least illogical, decisions, they play an important part in rational decision making as well. The more we understand how we make decisions, the better we can manage them”. (Morse, 42).

Our decisions are guided by many aspects and our motives- some pertain to our selfish desires and some unselfish. According to Psychological Egoism, each human action is motivated by the self-interest; persons who sacrifice everything to help others are considered to be the an epitome of moral virtue. It is surprising yet true that altruism may not only be rare but impossible. Every human action is guided by self-interest and this is the most natural phenomenon.

Rand in her philosophical work, “The Virtue of Selfishness” (VOS), states that the right meaning of selfishness is “concern with one’s own interests” (Rand, vii). The arguments posed by Rand is that selfishness is not bad but the most virtuous proposition in the aspect that it is an action whereby it secures and gives protection to one’s rational values, one’s life and happiness. It enables the person to attain one’s goals and success and achievements for one’s own well-being. One should strive to involve seriously for own interest and lead a very healthy and fulfilling life.

Our allAll our actions and desires revolve around this the word “selfish”. Though popularly there is a different meaning ascribed to the term “selfish its it’s the term” yet. For them it means disregarding other people’s welfare for one’s own. In these circumstances, people make decisions according to one’s own desires and to meet own motives disregarding the welfare of others. These people are considered as brutish who never have even a least concern for the welfare of the others. Their actions cause harm to others, though benefit themselves, and they lose all the good will, trust and patience of others. But Rand has her own version, she prefers not to label these people as selfish as she ardently advocates that if this application is applied, it distorts the important philosophical version of desire and self interests and give space to the false philosophical doctrines. Moreover, it gives the way to the formation of what is ethics?.

Rand suggests that there is objectivity involved in the several elements of the self-interest. All human beings have their own psychological and biological needs needs. Aand to fulfill these needs is the main prerequisite of all human beings. Thise selfish interest is quite contradictory to what is known as whims which do not constitute well being of human beings. Human beings are social animals and they have to adhere to certain social values and virtues while making decision to fulfill their own desires and whims. A person, who is truly selfish, is very self-respecting, self-supporting human who neither develops attitude in his bid to sacrifice others nor sacrifice himself for others. (Rand, ix) It is also said that self-interest cannot be seen but felt and deeply understood. It can be described in the form of natural motive and deliberative motive. Natural motive can be described as something, which immerses out of our inner self unconsciously and unnatural motive is something that defies the natural desires and forces us to follow the rational lines. Natural motive comes first over discussion and therefore it is considered not only an intelligent but also a good desire, which can be related with feeling of suffering and sacrifice. Always the priority is given to the natural desires because it is inherent part of ourselves and comes automatically we cannot control or defy.

Self-interest is a crucial part and a fundamental aspect of human being that no one can deny and arises out of the natural impulse of the human beings. For Kant, “When we perceive a beautiful object which is typically a natural object theoretically accessible to all rather than a work of art, may give rise to an element of ego or possessiveness-the disjunction between our perception and concept, creates and excess or free play of an imagination, that prefigures moral freedom, or freedom from desire or self interest.” (Dellamora, 131).

From the philosophical perspective, desires can turn into motives. For example, desires can make an agent correctly observe the beliefs as an explanation for his actions. Sometimes when a person desires to do something, he does not have either reason for doing the action or motive of doing rather he only has a desire of doing. Bernert Gert in his book “Morality: Its Nature and Justification” said that a person hardly needs a reason for doing something or desires to do something and if he desires to do something, he does not need a motive to explain anything of his actions. Only his desire to do something may explain the rationale of his doing. (Gert, 72) According to the Christian beliefs, it’s our duty to imbibe by our own happiness. Finny observes, “on the contrary, part of our duty is to regard our own happiness according to its value in the scale with other interests. God has commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves.” (Finney, Online) This plainly makes it a duty to love ourselves and regard our own happiness by the value of the scale. (Finney, Online) It goes like this and said as,that “If you help another person because you like him and want to help, or you generally like being helpful or because you desire the good of others, that is still selfishness.” (Teichman & Evans, 78) It is argued that any distress whether due to one’s own sufferings or sufferings of others always account for one’s own distress and is egoistic in its own nature. and any Any desire, even the desire for the welfare of the others and their happiness, always account for one’s own desires. It is our desire only that induces within us the spirit to help others therefore their desire becomes our own desire and within it the parameter of the self-interest.

Another point that needs to the mentioned here is the relation between self-love and selfless love. Whether we think people selfish or not selfish depends on the extent to which they owe themselves towards their desires or passions and the depth to which they seek the happiness. This pursuit of their happiness is guided by the interest for love for self, which is guided by self-interest but again it is considered as unselfishness. (Adams, 102).

Let us take an example of Mother Teresa; she had spent maximum part of her life serving the poor. The question arises if she was motivated by the desire to serve the poor on account of the selfishness or some gains or unselfishness. If we go by the definitions above, it is her selfishness- the selfishness of a desire for doing well to others. On the other hand was a man whose whole life was spent making investments and in directing corporations. He felt satisfied in doing this work therefore his desire was also motivated by selfishness- a selfish desire of earning through making investments. (LaFollette, Online).

If we look at the lives of ourselves and the lives of the others, we would find that we are not at all different from them. Doing any activity what we desire or want makes us feel satisfied and happy and the motivation of the same comes from our intentional actions and actions also which are presumed to be morally motivated. And when we are unable to do what we want, that leaves us dissatisfied. While performing some fruitful task or doing some good for the others, we may think that we are doing for the sake of doing good and it is all selfless love, or has moral principle for others but no work is selfless. In every task, there is a desire involved whose roots itself lie in selfishness, because there is no desire if there is no self-interest and no self interest if there is no desire. We can also say both self- interest and desire are reciprocally related to each other. A person has a desire for attainment of social position in the society, image, favour or commitments. Within this also implies his or her egoism. He or she is doing good for others and for the well-being of others yet there is a certain essence of egoism, which implies in his or her work. He or she is egoistic as the person is eager and expecting to attain some reward in return to the favours done and the recognition of the successful achievement of that act. But in certain cases there is no egoism involved as in the desire to love the spouse or parents. If you love your parents or children, there is no egoism yet there is selfishness, selfishness in the sense that you expect the same love or relationship in return.

Human beings are social animals and have one biggest desire to get associated with the others in one way or the other and all our actions revolve around this desire. Literature has captured every aspect of this desire of manhood in its vicissitude and every aspect of life. It has endowed the human race by articulating the various meanings and aspects of the desire and several traits associated with it. One of it, which has pervaded the literature, is the idea or Eros, which is itself selfish as opposed to agape. This idea was very much the part of the human endeavor since centuries. And psychologists like Freud said that it could not be more unconcealed like when he said that love is nothing but lust, plus the ordeal of civility. But the general misunderstanding here is that any activity, which is motivated by the sake of gaining of pleasure is selfishness and therefore cannot be a virtue. Yet, as said by Aristotle, it is in the nature of virtue that is neither selfless nor selfish. Hereby, we can also say that idea of Eros is also a virtue and we cannot characterize in either category in selfish or pleasurable. (Gardiner, 93) La Rochefoucauld words conform to the theory of desire when he said, “In the soul, a thirst for mastery; in the mind sympathy; in the body, nothing but a delicately hidden desire to possess, after many mysteries.” (Gardiner, 94) And he is right, it is nothing but an inherent desire to possess that what our life is and what makes it our two attributes, selfish and unselfish. Both these attributes in turn depend on our motives and there are several ambiguities in it. The first ambiguity is on account of our egoistic tendency to ignore the distinction between the motive for our action and its consequence. In other words, behind all actions we have certain motives. We are aware of certain motives but ignorant of certain others, still we follow those motives to the fulfillment of our desires. Desire is a seed from which man is born and if a man has the possession of no desire, no resolution, but in the pursuit of the desire, man also inculcates number of vices and makes it feeble and weak. As said above, desire generally follows with selfishness on our part that could lead us to number of vices and makes us adopt many things that are not considered as virtuous and are immoral.

According to the Hindu traditionn, there are three kinds of aspects, which allows man to draw his their springstrengthss man can attain, and a person can draw strength to and drive away selfishness and move onto the path of desire with selfless motive. These three features are divinity, spirituality and materialism. If he has a conviction that he has a body, he can gain spiritual strength and if he has individualized soul then he can draw upon spiritual strength and can attain awareness of the unity. These kinds of energies take the man away from the selfish desire and towards the attainment of ‘enlightenment’. In Buddhism, there is a concept called ‘Nirvana’, which is similar in meaning to bliss or heaven. According to Buddhists philosophy, the ‘Nirvana’ has several social, complex, psychological, metaphysical or spiritual levels. On moral grounds, it is said that ‘Nirvana’ is a decision to abandon desire or selfish craving. It means following the ‘Dharma’ that means following the moral and virtuous path and thus eight fold path that could lead to ‘Nirvana’. Psychologically Nirvana means feeling of actually being free from desire. These desires many times overpower us when we give them more importance in our lives and it could lead to adverse consequences. On metaphysical grounds, “nirvana is the absolute condition beyond the transient nature of human existence; it is the conditionless, immutable and eternal reality of awareness.” (Teasdale, 58) Our deeper layers of consciousness always entreats us to keep away from worldly desires but what Nirvana implies is the inducement and drive to attain the real nature, its emptiness and the divine power is also desire. In other words, how much we try to escape from our desire it is not possible to escape from it. From one angle to the other, from the one aspect of life to the other, we will be occupied by our desires. If we are not occupied by the desire of our worldly hemisphere, we will be occupied by the desire to attain divinity and spirituality, desire for love, desire for self-realization and satisfaction. We cannot deny or ignore this. If there is desire then there is ought to be selfishness and egoism too without which there is no survival.

In the practical world, there are many cases where people have overpowered their selfishness to fulfill their desire to help the others. For instance, a soldier falling on the grenade to save his buddies,; or any person saving a child from being run ran over by a speeding vehicle. These are all the cases of unselfish desires. This whole concept of selfishness or what we call psychological egoism is true if it is adopted what Rachel calls, “strategy of redefining motives.” In other words, if people keep on insisting and claiming that these appear to be unselfish acts, but have also the hidden motive of selfishness behind. But there is a concept of morality that we all adhere to, and which is against selfishness in general sense because morality means not only doing good to oneself but also doing good for others. Here also it implies that whatever moral values we develop, there is certain essence of selfishness. As William Shakespeare has said, “This above all: to thine own self be true. And it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” (Good, 48) In other words, Shakespeare said that our moral obligation is towards our self and then only we can share ourselves with others around us. As we move on with our lives, we have to make many choices. Some choices make us satisfied with our lives and some not, sometimes things come out to be right and sometimes things come out to be wrong. But the biggest thing in the life is whether we have learned from our mistakes or not. For example, learn to make decisions and keep on taking a move moving towards the satisfaction of your goals. All our choices are dependent on the way we take us on the path to grow. Their life starts with desires and ends with desires and no one can deny that desires itself means self- interest and psychological egoism, as without self- interest, no man attains what he want to desire. It is self-interest that giwhich gives him motivations and inducement to follow the path towards the attainment of the desire.

A Nobel Prize winner, Bertrand Russell too said while discoursing on politics that, all human actions on this earth are motivated by desires, and it is extremely fallacious to think that it is very much possible to deny and resist the desire. It is not because that man does not want to perform his or her duty but he could not perform duty unless he has desire to do so. If you want to know what man can do, there should be a need for you to know their material circumstances and whole system with their strengths. The desires also could be divided into two groups primary and secondary. For example, in primary groups come the necessity of life like food, clothing, shelter etc, and when these things get rare, men can go to any extent to make these ends meet or can resort to violence with the hope to give them security. These desires at number of times go to an extent of acquisitions. Man wantsed to acquire as much of goods as possible and he can go to any extent to fulfill his desires. Here the selfishness is clearly seen prevailing in man, which defies the earlier definition of selfishness and psychological egoism. Here the selfishness implies grabbing and hurting others and it is a continuous process. How much you wish to grab you would like to grab and acquire more and more? (Russell, Online).

Not only the acquisition but also it is the rivalry, which plays the most important role and all our problems have arisen on account of this rivalry. Love for power is another greater aspect of life every man aspires to achieve and it involves power at very lower stage as well. When ladies’ from the royal family have lot of servants to boast off, they feel pleasure in exerting their power over them. It is their desire to feel and exert their power over others. Besides, people also have ardent desire to pursue the knowledge, which is mainly actuated by the love of power. This desire for the acquisition of knowledge is followed by our actions, which should be pursued and would take the person on the desired goals.

Human beings have never ending desires. Over all, it is the desire for the satisfaction for the soul that prevails. Whatever man has achieved and gained but he has still confined himself in the gloom of darkness and it is always his desire to come out of his darkness towards the light. This is his self-interest in him that motivates him to come out of that darkened room to find light of the enlightenment and happiness. Though, he never speaks yet but his inner self is enough indication of the fact that he is always eager to search for something missing which is always haunting him. It is quite true, if there is a desire, there is self-interest be it helping someone on the street or acquiring something or achieving something,. but However, if this self-interest is accompanied at the cost of hurting others, then desire will truly take the form of selfishness that ought to be despised.

Works Cited

Adams, Robert Merrihew. “A Theory of Virtue: Excellence in Being for the Good”. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2006.

Bandura, Albert. “Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective”. Annu. Rev. Psychol, 2001, 52:1-26.

Dellamora, Richard. “Victorian Sexual Dissidence.” Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999.

Finney, Charles G. “The Pursuit Of Selfishness”. Internet. 2008. Web.

Gardiner, Stephen Mark. “Virtue Ethics, Old and New.” Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2002.

Gert, Bernard. “Morality: Its Nature and Justification.” New York: Oxford University Press US, 2005.

Good, Graham. “The Observing Self: Rediscovering the Essay.” New York: Routledge.

LaFollette, Hugh. “The Truth in Psychological Egosim.” 2008. Web.

Morse, Gardiner. “Decisions and desire”. Harvard Business Review, 2006; 84(1):42, 44-51, 132.

Rand, Ayn. “The Virtue of Selfishness.” Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated, 1987.

Russell, Bertrand. “What Desires Are Politically Important?” Internet. 2008. Web.

Teasdale, Wayne. “The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World’s Religions”. Novato, CA: New World Library, 2001.

Teichman, Jenny & Evans, Katherine C. “Philosophy: A Beginner’s Guide”. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 1999.

Georg Hegel: Self-Consciousness and Desire

As Kojeve states, Hegel’s exploration of self-consciousness and Desire is an attempt to understand human nature and the motivations behind people’s actions. The discussion begins with a recognition of man as a self-conscious being as the underlying factor that differentiates him from animals and that the use of the phrase ‘I’ is a manifestation of that attribute. Hence, he asserts that understanding the genesis of ‘I’ can facilitate the understanding of human nature and reality. He identifies Being and Desire as the primary influences behind human action and that it is Desire that drives humans into action that transforms their objective to subjective reality.

Accordingly, Desire presents the means through which man develops self-consciousness as it is the means through which his nature gets revealed. However, although it is a necessary condition, it is not sufficient on its own. For Desire to facilitate the development of self-consciousness, it must be directed towards a non-natural object that transcends one’s subjective reality. Consequently, it results in the emergence of a distinct being through a voluntary, becoming, conscious, and deliberate evolutionary process. Thus, self-consciousness is a consequence of directing human Desire towards another form of Desire, thus, there must be a manifold manifestation of Desire for self-consciousness to develop.

This need for a multiplicity of Desires towards which human Desire can relate is the reason why human existence is social in nature. However, in such a setting, it is imperative that there is multiplicity of Desires as well as the projection of the Desires of every member of the social unit towards the Desires of the other members. Human Desire is anthropogenic, thus, rather than being directed towards a real object, it is often directed toward another Desire. Desire directed at a natural object must be mediated for it to qualify as human. Thus, human interaction and some sense of competition over the same object is a fundamental component of Desire.

However, it is imperative to acknowledge the analogous nature of human and animal Desires. Both are satisfied by negating or transforming actions. Therefore, man can only attain the human status where the human Desire overcomes animal Desire. The former is typically a need for preservation; hence, man must overcome this primal desire. Overcoming the need for self-preservation is a necessary risk that facilitates the revelation of the true human nature. Hegel contended that recognition is essentially the basic value that man pursues in the fulfillment of Desire. Accordingly, all that desire that generates self-consciousness that informs human reality is a purpose of the need for recognition.

Materialism and the Theory of Consciousness

Materialists claim that all things have physical properties, thus depending on the laws of physics. However, consciousness and other mental phenomena have been the focus of most challenges of materialism (Jaworski 1). Most materialists are unable to provide an acceptable explanation of the mind. According to Thomas Nagel, adequate descriptions confirm that a phenomenon is an expected outcome (Jaworski 2). For instance, an adequate expounding about consciousness should clarify how it is not just a mere chance happening. Since most materialists cannot spell this out, their views are inadequate when describing life. Nagel’s views against materialism have received support and criticism in equal measure.

Nagel identified materialists’ theories that are likely to be true. Emergentism, reductionism, and panprotopsychism are the ones he based his arguments on (Jaworski 3). Emergentism asserts mental properties emerge from physical attributes, while reductionism claims physics can describe everything. Panprotopsychism insists that nature is responsible for simpler versions of mental properties whose combination results in full-blown intellectual qualities. Nagel encountered challenges hindering these theories from providing adequate explanations about consciousness and other mental phenomena.

The problems that materialists encounter differ from one theory to another. According to Jaworski (3), emergentism fails to provide the understanding most researchers seek due to the inability to explain most laws of emergence. On the other hand, reductionist views leave out appearances that rely on personal feelings and opinions. Finally, panprotopsychism experiences challenge understanding how simple mental properties form fully developed intellectual states. In addition to these specific challenges, most materialists’ views rely on assumptions, thus failing to describe how consciousness is not a mere chance occurrence. Many individuals have developed alternative arguments to avoid stumbling blocks derailing their efforts to understand the appearance of life.

Nagel came up with his arguments after studying the purposes that phenomena serve. He chose not to pay too much attention to how things arise. Nagel believes applying teleological concepts to living organisms is unclear (Jaworski 5). Therefore, he came up with his proposal about our origin. He said that the fabric of the universe makes us susceptible to producing life, consciousness, and reason. Such proneness provides more concepts and resources, thus allowing people to understand life and mind. In that case, Nagel’s arguments yield better and more informative descriptions about the emergence of life than materialism.

The people who object to Nagel’s arguments claim that the theorist makes a lot of assumptions. They have scrutinized how Nagel uses existing theories in the literature because people interpret information differently. For instance, Nagel agrees with those who argue that there is an incompatibility between moral truths and natural selection (Jaworski 5). His susceptibility theory does not insist on the presence of environmental threats or moral realism for reproduction and natural selection to take place. In many cases, the living develops reproductive fitness by acting as if environmental factors require their adaptability. Failure to adapt to changes in the environment may result in their extinction. Nagel should have observed that moral truths and natural selection are compatible because the fear of surrounding factors like pain contributes to survival.

Second, Nagel’s suggestion that one can successfully explain the emergence of life if one can describe consciousness does not have concrete evidence supporting it. For instance, he said that simple versions of mental properties and proto-behavioral qualities interconnect at the microscopic level of a macroscopic organism (Jaworski 7). The proto-mental properties influence behavior at the tiniest level the way full-blown intellectual characteristics do at the observable stage. If an interconnection between mental and behavioral properties exists, then physical characteristics should be sufficient to explain life’s unfolding. They can provide reliable information about the level of consciousness and emergence of various biological processes. Since Nagel did not address these views, his suggestion that materialists need to explain consciousness before exhaustively describing life lacks authenticity.

Nagel proposes that a conceptual gap separating mental and physical characteristics is essential when describing consciousness. Understanding how living organisms bridge the gap to remain conscious makes the theorist’s assumption that the world is teleological irrelevant. In such a universe, teleological laws may dictate the emergence of consciousness and other mental phenomena (Jaworski 9). The presence of these rules means Nagel’s arguments are similar to those of materialists. One of the objectives of his theory was to eliminate unexplainable principles associated with emergentism. Nagel’s insistence on the universe being teleological means that those who adopt his arguments should understand the laws of nature. Therefore, it is hard to determine whether the alternative he suggests upgrades materialists’ views or not.

Materialists and opponents of materialism should not embrace Nagel’s arguments because they rely on contentious assumptions. However, I concur that materialism does not accommodate mental and biological phenomena. An excellent theory of consciousness should not rely on assumptions about intellectual and physical properties. It should consider biologists’ descriptions of how a collection of various structures become a living organism. Contrary to materialists’ claims that physics can exhaustively explain everything, other scientific laws are essential in describing the tiniest components of animate objects. Therefore, materialism is not the correct theory of explaining consciousness.

Work Cited

Jaworski, William. “Why Materialism Is False, and Why It Has Nothing to Do With the Mind.” Philosophy, vol. 91, no. 2, 2016, pp. 1–31. Crossref, DOI: 10.1017/s0031819116000036.