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YOUR BEING CONSCIOUS: MIND-BODY DUALISM, AND OBJECTIVE PHYSICALISM

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2015

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Abstract

Descartes believed not only that I think therefore I am but also that consciousness is not physical, unlike the brain. That makes consciousness different, which evidently it is, but also incapable of causing arm movements, which is unbelievable. Abstract functionalism is in the same boat. Disagreement between these and more ideas and theories surely has much to do with not talking about the same thing, no adequate initial clarification of the subject matter. We can get such a thing from a database. Consciousness is therefore something's being actual. What that comes to on further reflection is that it has characteristics that add up to its being subjectively physical – and partly outside a brain and partly inside. This theory of consciousness, Actualism, also passes other tests, including individuality and freedom.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Philosophy 2015 

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