Will Science Ever Explain Consciousness?

Consciousness is not just another scientific problem we haven’t dealt with yet. We won’t be at first base on this issue until we’ve appreciated the unique nature of this challenge.

What is so special about consciousness? It’s special because we have direct access to the phenomenon we’re trying to explain. Each of us is directly aware of our feelings and experiences. This direct access provides information about the nature of these states: A pain is defined by how it feels, and you know how it feels when you feel it. Moreover, this is information about the nature of our conscious states that can’t be discerned from experiments. A blind from birth scientist isn’t going to learn what it’s like to see red from reading about the physical processes associated with colour experience.

This is totally different to any other phenomenon science seeks to explain. Is lightening the anger of the gods? Is water a fundamental element, alongside fire, earth, and air? We have absolutely no idea what these things are until we do the science. But with consciousness, we have significant knowledge of its nature prior to doing science, and this is knowledge that can’t be got from the science.

Doesn’t having some extra knowledge “from the inside” make the problem of consciousness easier? In a sense, perhaps. But it also means we end up with a very different explanatory project compared to what we’re normally doing in science. Standardly in physical science the task is to explain structure and dynamics: what stuff does. When we explain the phase change of water, for example, we’re explaining why water behaves in a rigid manner when frozen, more flexibly when melted, and then floats around when boiling. We explain this behaviour in terms of the behaviour of the molecular components, e.g. how strong the hydrogen bonds are.

When we’re seeking to explain consciousness, however, we’re not trying explain what stuff does. We’re rather trying to explain the subjective qualities we immediately apprehend in our experiences. We’re trying to explain why a system feels a certain way, not why it behaves a certain way. This is not to deny that feelings and behaviour are closely connected; pain causes us to scream and try to get away. The point is just that when I ask “Why is my wife feeling pain?”, I’m not asking about why she’s behaving in a certain way, or why some of her parts are behaving in a certain way. I’m asking why she’s feeling a certain way, and that’s just a different question.*

The idea of a physical explanation of consciousness makes no sense upon reflection. It’s a category mistake. This is important because it’s common to hear the following: “Physical science has done brilliantly historically, of course it’s going to explain consciousness.” To my mind, this is like saying, '“Telescopes are fantastic for looking at the stars, surely that shows they’ll be brilliant in pure mathematics!” Physical science is amazing at explaining what stuff does. But trying to explain why something feels is just a different explanatory project.

Let me quickly add: Physical science is crucial for making progress on consciousness. We need science to establish which kinds of conscious experience go with which kinds of brain activity. But the question of why physical reality and consciousness are tied together in the ways science reveals is a philosophical rather than an experimental question.

In other words, we need both science and philosophy working in hand in hand to make progress on consciousness.

Next month’s interview is with the neuroscientist Anil Seth on related issues. We end up agreeing a surprising amount, given that he’s a physicalist and I’m a panpsychist. SUBSCRIBE NOW SO YOU DON’T MISS IT, AND SUPPORT MY PUBLIC WORK FINANCIALLY IF YOU CAN.

*Of course, in the practical course of life, part of the answer to “Why is my wife feeling pain?” may be that she’s in certain physical states. But if we’re doing philosophy and digging down to foundations, this leads quickly to the question: “Why are those physical states correlated with feelings?”

Photo by Maxim Potkin ❄ on Unsplash