Understanding Consciousness: Materialist Point of View
Start writing a post
Politics and Activism

Understanding Consciousness: Materialist Point of View

An account that fulfills our understanding of human consciousness without the vagueness of the immaterial entities like God and the soul.

426
Understanding Consciousness: Materialist Point of View
Soul Research Institute

The mind-body problem has been developing since the 17th century. It is the problem of the connection between the physical and mental; the body and the mind. After the development of the problem throughout the years, consciousness became one of the main questions of the problem nowadays. However, there has not been a general consensus on the definition of consciousness within the philosophical community. This paper will not focus on the definition as it is the hard part of the question of consciousness, but it will take a smaller question to give a better understanding of what is consciousness. I will address the question: “Is consciousness compatible with materialism?” There are two dominant accounts that explore consciousness and will be evaluated through the contemporary philosophers: Thomas Nagel, and Frank Jackson. The account that this paper is interested in is materialism, which claims that reality is fundamentally made up of matter – physical stuff.

In the beginning, I would like to introduce two main kinds of materialism:

  1. Identity theory, which holds the view that consciousness is identical to a physical event in the brain namely matter.
  2. Functionalism, which holds the view that consciousness is a function of running the “right software” on the brain or any “hardware” like material.

Using these two kinds of materialism, physicalists take advantage of the identity-based and the functional reductive explanations. These reductive explanations are going to be the basis to the materialism account of consciousness by employing an analogy for each of the explanations. The water and H2O example expresses the identity-based reductive explanation. Water is identical to the chemical compound H2O, and when we want to answer what is water our reductive explanation would be it is the substance that boils at one hundred degrees Celsius and freezes at zero degree Celsius, etc. Using this analogy, water is consciousness and H2O is neural-firing at a certain speed and in that manner consciousness is identical to the neuro-firing. Moreover, the gene-DNA example expresses the functional reductive explanation. The genes of the human beings play a functional role of transferring information between generations for the DNA. But in the case of aliens or other creatures that does not have DNA but they might have something else, which we could call X, that would have genes that transfer information for. Genes for these creatures would still be a function for X. Using this analogy, consciousness represents genes and it performs function to whatever depending on the “creature,” for instance, brain for the human beings. These two reductions demonstrate how materialism illustrates consciousness.

Thomas Nagel analyzes the above reductive explanations in his paper: “What is it like to be a bat?” He introduces consciousness as special and endures its definition as follows: “An organism has conscious mental states if and only if there is something that it is like to be that organism.”

By applying his definition, he derives that the reductive explanations fail because they leave out the explanation of what it is like to be in a conscious experience. The reductive explanations show what consciousness could be but it does not explain what it entails. Nonetheless, Nagel believes that it is impossible to explain consciousness physically because we do not understand materialism totally as of right now. He states: “It would be a mistake to conclude that materialism must be false … It would be truer to say that materialism is a position we cannot understand because we do not at present have any conception of how it might be true.”

This statement of Nagel explains a neutral position of where consciousness stands in terms of materialism and allows the physicalist account time for us to perceive a conception of how it might be true. As a supporting example here, I would like to use the Einsteinian physics and more specifically the famous relation E = mC2. This relation means that energy and matter are one of the same under certain speeds. We take this theory for granted since it solves more problems than other paradigms. Even though we do not fully understand it or have a conception of how could it be the case that energy and matter are one. In the same approach, consciousness of the mind and the physical brain may be the same but we are missing the ability understand it.

Last but not least, Jackson’s thought experiment of Mary, the scientist, in the black and white room adds the last ingredient of this paper. Mary is a color scientist that lives in a black and white room; but she learned every physical fact of red prior to any conscious visual experience of seeing red. She was perfect in reasoning, as in she is able to deduce any entailment by a physical fact. When she saw red tomato, she learned a new fact about red, which is entailed by the conscious visual experience of red. Jackson goes on and says: “It is inescapable that her previous knowledge was incomplete. But she had all the physical information. Ergo there is more to have than that, and materialism is false.”

In contrast, the ability hypothesis states that Mary did not gain any new information or facts about red when she perceived red. She just acquired the ability to perceive the color red. Therefore, the physicalist explanation of knowing all about the color red is satisfactory to say that the conscious experience of red is entailed by the knowledge of the physical facts if we reach the maximum of understanding the conception of materialism.

The conclusion obtained from analyzing the arguments from Nagel and Jackson articulate that consciousness could be different physical things in different beings, which could also imply that consciousness is fundamental and universal; however, it is still explained physically. Also, our understanding and conception of materialism is limited to the point that we might not be able to explain consciousness in those terms right now but may be in the future. The direct answer is, yes, consciousness is compatible with materialism in many ways but it is not complete yet. I think that we just need time until we develop an understanding of a fundamental physical conception of consciousness. Until then, stay conscious!
Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do!

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

49476
college students waiting in a long line in the hallway
StableDiffusion

Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle.

This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens.

Keep Reading...Show less
a man and a woman sitting on the beach in front of the sunset

Whether you met your new love interest online, through mutual friends, or another way entirely, you'll definitely want to know what you're getting into. I mean, really, what's the point in entering a relationship with someone if you don't know whether or not you're compatible on a very basic level?

Consider these 21 questions to ask in the talking stage when getting to know that new guy or girl you just started talking to:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Challah vs. Easter Bread: A Delicious Dilemma

Is there really such a difference in Challah bread or Easter Bread?

31494
loaves of challah and easter bread stacked up aside each other, an abundance of food in baskets
StableDiffusion

Ever since I could remember, it was a treat to receive Easter Bread made by my grandmother. We would only have it once a year and the wait was excruciating. Now that my grandmother has gotten older, she has stopped baking a lot of her recipes that require a lot of hand usage--her traditional Italian baking means no machines. So for the past few years, I have missed enjoying my Easter Bread.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

Unlocking Lake People's Secrets: 15 Must-Knows!

There's no other place you'd rather be in the summer.

955135
Group of joyful friends sitting in a boat
Haley Harvey

The people that spend their summers at the lake are a unique group of people.

Whether you grew up going to the lake, have only recently started going, or have only been once or twice, you know it takes a certain kind of person to be a lake person. To the long-time lake people, the lake holds a special place in your heart, no matter how dirty the water may look.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Reasons My School Rocks!

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

180370
man in black long sleeve shirt and black pants walking on white concrete pathway

I was asked so many times why I wanted to go to a small school when a big university is so much better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a big university is great but I absolutely love going to a small school. I know that I miss out on big sporting events and having people actually know where it is. I can't even count how many times I've been asked where it is and I know they won't know so I just say "somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin." But, I get to know most people at my school and I know my professors very well. Not to mention, being able to walk to the other side of campus in 5 minutes at a casual walking pace. I am so happy I made the decision to go to school where I did. I love my school and these are just a few reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments