Subjective Holism and the Problem of Consciousness.

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. in Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Theology, Farabi Campus, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Theology, Farabi Campus, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran

10.22091/jptr.2024.10773.3062

Abstract

How does unconscious matter become conscious? How does our physical part, which lacks consciousness, have such a subjective quality? This is the explanatory gap in the problem of consciousness or the hard problem of consciousness which comes from a physicalist (eliminativist physicalism) point of view. From the opposite point of view, i.e. dualism, the mind-body problem has led to the problem of consciousness and the explanation of how our unconscious physical (matter) part (substance) is related to our conscious mental part (substance). If the problem of consciousness is the result of such views (eliminativism and dualism), is it possible to adopt a different perspective so that the problem does not arise at all? Or find a solution for it (maximum answer) or at least determine the right way to solve the problem (minimum answer)? The current research goes to this issue by adopting subjectivism and holism to make its subjective holism theory. Therefore, it gives a positive (maximum and minimum) answer to the above questions.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Abdollahi, S., & Nasiri, M. (2023a). Hume’s fideism; towards his mysticism. Journal of Philosophical Theological Research, 25(1), 29-52.   
https://doi.org/10.22091/jptr.2022.8571.2765
Abdollahi, S., & Nasiri, M. (2023b). Illusionism on mind problem. Journal of Philosophical Investigations, 17(43), 364-383.    
https://doi.org/10.22034/jpiut.2022.51469.3202
Andrews, K., & Monsó, S. (2021). Animal cognition (Spring 2021 Edition). (E. N. Zalta, Ed.). The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy.
URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2021/entries/cognition-animal/>
Aristotle. (2014). Cambridge texts in the history of philosophy: Aristotle: Nicomachean ethics (vol. 2). (R. Crisp, Ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Beer, C. (1995). Trial and error in the evolution of cognition. Behavioral Processes, 35(1-3), 215-224. https://doi.org/10.1016/0376-6357(95)00059-3
Britannica, T. (2010, August 4). Holism. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/topic/holism
Britannica, T. (2022, Dec. 2). Gestalt psychology. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/science/Gestalt-psychology
Chalmers, D. (1995). Facing up to the problem of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 2(3), 200-219.
Chalmers, D. (2013). Panpsychism and panprotopsychism. Amherst Lecture in Philosophy, 8, 1-35. Retrieved from:      
https://www.amherstlecture.org/chalmers2013/
Chalmers, D. (2018). The meta-problem of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 25(9-10), 6-61.
Crick, F., & Koch, C. (1992). The problem of consciousness. Scientific American, 267(3), 152-60. Retrieved from:      
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-of-consciousness/
Dennett, D. (1992). The self as a center of narrative gravity. In F. Kessel, P. Cole, & D. Johnson, Self and consciousness. Erlbaum.
Duhem, P. M. (1954). The aim and structure of physical theory. Princeton University Press.
Freeman, J. (2005). Towards a definition of holism. British Journal of General Practice., 55(511), 154-155.
Ganeri, J. (2012). The self. Oxford University Press.
Halvorson, H. (2016). Why methodological naturalism? In K. Clark, The Blackwell companion to naturalism (pp. 136-149). John Wiley & Sons.
Holden, C. (2004, Feb 19). I feel your pain, really.      
https://doi.org/10.1126/article.34745
Holism. (n.d.). Retrieved from: dictionary.com:           
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/holism#:~:text=Definition%20of%20holism&text=Philosophy.,mere%20sum%20of%20their%20parts.
Hume, D. (2007). A treatise of human nature. (D. Norton, & M. Norton, Eds.). Oxford University Press.
Levine, J. (1983). Materialism and qualia: the explanatory gap. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 64, 354-361.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (2012). Phenomenology of perception. (D. Landes, Trans.). Routledge.
Miguens, S., & Preyer, G. (2012). Consciousness and subjectivity. Transactions Books.
Murphy, N. (2006). Bodies and souls, or spirited bodies? Cambridge University Press.
Murphy, N. (2009). Introduction and overview. In N. Murphy, G. Ellis, & T. O’Conor, Downward causation and the neurobiology of free will. Springer.
Nagel, T. (1974). What is it like to be a bat? The Philosophical Review, 83(4),
435–450. https://doi.org/10.2307/2183914
O’Connor, T. (Winter 2021). Emergent properties. In E. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved from:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/properties-emergent/
Piñeros, G., Juan, S., & Tenenbaum, S. (2023, Spring). Action. Retrieved from: The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy.         
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/action/#pagetopright
Quine, W. (1951). Two dogmas of empiricism. Philosophical Review, 60(1), 20-43.
Ralston, S. (2011, August 15). Holism. Encyclopedia of political thought.              
http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1910274.
Schraube, E. (2014). First-person perspective. In T. Teo, Encyclopedia of critical psychology (pp. 733-736). Springer.
Searle, J. (1999). Mind, language and society. Basic Books.
Searle, J. (2007). Freedom and neurobiology. Columbia University Press.
Van Gulick, R. (2024). Consciousness, subjective facts and physicalism – 50 years since Nagel’s bat. Journal of Philosophical Theological Research, 26(1), 5-20. https://doi.org/10.22091/jptr.2024.10424.3021.
Zahavi, D. (2006). Subjectivity and selfhood: investigating the first-person perspective. The MIT Press, A Bradford Book.
Zahavi, D. (2007). Subjectivity and the first-person perspective. Southern Journal of Philosophy, 45(S1), 66-84.
Zahle, J. (2016, Mar 21). Methodological holism in the social sciences. Retrieved from The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/holism-social/
Send comment about this article
CAPTCHA Image
Journal of Philosophical Theological Research
Volume 26, Issue 3
September 2024
Pages 135-150

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics