Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Radical Solutions to the Ontological and Epistemological Problems of Consciousness

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Psychiatry and Neuroscience Update

Abstract

The problem of consciousness is one of the first that most intimately concerns man, though it was the last to be approached by science. It is possible that the mystery of consciousness is that in order to be explained, it is necessary to face very diverse and complex issues. It is the purpose of this chapter to review the main problems that hinder the study of consciousness, the approaches from which the various disciplines have approached it, and the most radical and groundbreaking solutions that have been found. For this, a journey is carried out through three fundamental difficulties: the problem of reality, the problem of dualism, and the problem of the subjective quality of experience, as radical solutions to each of these problems are the conscious realism of Donald Hoffman, the model of the objective orchestrated reduction of Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff, the principle of synchronicity of Carl G. Jung, the new consciousness-collapse of the wave function model of David Chalmers, and the neurophenomenology of Francisco Varela. We conclude by highlighting the intrinsic difficulty in objectifying the phenomenon of consciousness, the state of immature science reflected in the apparent antagonism of theoretical proposals, and, finally, that the progressive integration and complementarity between some theoretical approaches could yield results in a promising paradigm shift which would allow further progress in clarifying the ontological and epistemological foundations of consciousness.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    See however [9].

References

  1. Dennett D. Contenido y conciencia. Barcelona: Gedisa; 1996. p. 55.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Crick F. La búsqueda científica del alma: una revolucionaria hipótesis para el siglo XXI. Madrid: Debate; 1994. p. XI.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Llinás R. El cerebro y el mito del yo. El papel de las neuronas en el pensamiento y el comportamiento humano. Barcelona: Belacqua; 2003. p. 131.

    Google Scholar 

  4. McGinn C. The mysterious flame: conscious minds in a material world. New York: Oxford Books; 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Chalmers D. How can we construct a science of consciousness? Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2013;1303:25–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12166.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Turing A. Computing machinery and intelligence. Mind. 1950;59(236):433–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Arana J. La conciencia inexplicada. Ensayo sobre los límites de la comprensión naturalista de la mente. Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva; 2015. p. 151.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Wittgenstein L. Investigaciones filosóficas. Barcelona: Crítica; 2008. p. 245.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Cowey A, Stoerig P. Blindsight in monkeys. Nature. 1995;373:247–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Chalmers D. The conscious mind: in search of a fundamental theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Searle J. El misterio de la conciencia. Paidós: Barcelona; 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Dietrich A. Introduction to consciousness. New York: Palgrave Macmillan; 2007. p. 1–61.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Searle J. The rediscovery of the mind. Massachusetts: MIT Press; 1992. p. 127–31.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  14. James W. The principles of psychology. New York: Henry Holt & Co; 1890. p. 224–5.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Aznar-Casanova J. La consciencia: la interfaz polinómica de la subjetividad. Madrid: Pirámide; 2017. p. 291.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Simons D, Chabris CF. Gorillas in our midst: sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events. Perception. 1999;28(9):1059–74.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Ramachandran V. Lo que el cerebro nos dice: los misterios de la mente humana al descubierto. Barcelona: Paidós; 2012. p. 62–80.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Churchland PM. Eliminative materialism and the propositional attitudes. J Philos. 1981;LXXVIII:67–90.

    Google Scholar 

  19. La Mettrie JO. Histoire naturelle de l'ame. Oxford: aux dépends de l'auteur; 1747.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Berkeley G. Principios del conocimiento humano. Madrid: Aguilar; 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Bergson H. La evolución creadora. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe; 1973.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Varela F. De cuerpo presente: las licencias cognitivas y la experiencia humana. Gedisa: Barcelona; 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Hameroff S, Penrose R. Consciousness in the universe. A review of the ‘Orch OR’ theory. Phys Life Rev. 2014;11(1):39–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plrev.2013.08.002.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Hameroff S. Quantum computation in brain microtubules? The Penrose-Hameroff ‘Orch OR’ model of consciousness. Phil Trans R Soc Lond A. 1998;356:1869–96.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Penrose R. Shadows of the mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1994. p. 367.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Kodukula SP. New hypothesis on consciousness-brain as quantum processor-synchronization of quantum mechanics and relativity. Int J Theor Phys. 2019;7(2):31–43.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Hoffman D, Prakash C. Objects of consciousness. Front Psychol. 2014;577(5):1–22. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00577.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Hoffman D. The interface theory of perception: natural selection drives true perception to swift extinction. In: Tarr M, Leonardis A, Schiele B, editors. Object categorization: computer and human vision perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2009. p. 48–165.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Descartes R. Meditaciones metafísicas. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe; 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Ryle G. The concept of mind. Hutchison: Londres; 1949.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Penfield W. El misterio de la mente. Estudio crítico de la consciencia y del cerebro humano. Madrid: Pirámide; 1977. p. 123.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Eccles J. A unitary hypothesis of mind-brain interactions in the cerebral cortex. Proc R Soc Lond B. 1990;240:433–51.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Humphrey N. How to solve the mind-body problem. J Conscious Stud. 2000;7(4):5–20.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Broad CD. The mind and its place in nature. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul; 1925. p. 61.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Martínez PC. What is understood by “neural correlate” in mind-brain relations. In: Gargiulo PA, Mesones-Arroyo HL, editors. Psychiatry and Neuroscience Update update: from translational research to a humanistic approach, vol. 3. Switzerland: Springer; 2019. p. 73–81.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  36. Chalmers D. What is a neural correlate of consciousness? In: Metzinger T, editor. Neural correlates of consciousness. Massachusetts: MIT Press; 2000. p. 17–40.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Miller G. What is the biological basis of consciousness? Science. 2005;309:79.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Binder MD. Correlation. In: Binder MD, Hirokawa N, Windhorst U, editors. Encyclopedia of neuroscience. Berlin: Springer; 2009. p. 890.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  39. Racionero L. Oriente y Occidente. Barcelona: Anagrama; 1993. p. 64.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Leibniz GW. Monadología. Madrid: Alhambra; 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Jung CG. La interpretación de la naturaleza y la psique. Barcelona: Paidós; 2003. p. 35.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Dennett D, Kinsbourne M. Time and the observer: the where and when of consciousness in the brain. Behav Brain Sci. 1992;15:183–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Pöppel E. Lost in time: a historical frame, elementary processing units and the 3-second window. Acta Neurobiol Exp. 2004;64:295–301.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Gray C, Singer W. Stimulus-specific neuronal oscillations in orientation columns of cat visual cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989;86:1698–702.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  45. Chalmers D. Facing up to the problem of consciousness. J Conscious Stud. 1995a;2(3):200–19.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Chalmers D, McQueen K. Consciousness and the collapse of the wave function. A lecture given by David Chalmers at Göttingen University: Göttingen; 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Tononi G, Koch C. Consciousness: here, there and everywhere? Phil Trans R Soc B. 2015;370:1–18. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Rorty R. Contemporary philosophy of mind. Synthese. 1982;53:323–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Levine J. Materialism and qualia: the explanatory gap. Pac Philos Q. 1983;64(4):354–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Pinker S. How the mind works. New York: W.W. Norton & Co; 1997. p. 546.

    Google Scholar 

  51. Dennett D. Consciousness explained. Boston: MIT Press; 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  52. Flanagan O. Consciousness reconsidered. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press; 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  53. Jackendoff R. Consciousness and the computational mind. Cambridge: MIT Press; 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  54. Goswami A. Creative evolution: a physicist resolution between Darwin and intelligent design. Wheaton: Quest Books; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  55. Husserl E. Investigaciones lógicas. Madrid: Alianza Editorial; 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  56. Nagel T. What is it like to be a bat? Philos Rev. 1974;83(4):435–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Varela F. Neurophenomenology: a methodological approach remedy for the hard problem. J Conscious Stud. 1996;3(4):330–49.

    Google Scholar 

  58. Revonsuo A. Consciousness, dreams and virtual realities. Philos Psychol. 1995;8:35–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Van Loon A, Bailenson J, Zaki J, Bostick J, Willer R. Virtual reality perspective-taking increases cognitive empathy for specific others. PLoS One. 2018;13(8):1–19. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202442.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  60. Glattfelder JB. Subjective consciousness: what am I? In: Glattfelder JB, editor. Information – consciousness – reality: how a new understanding of the universe can help answer age-old questions of existence. Switzerland: Springer; 2019. p. 395–449.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  61. Pastor-Gómez J. Mecánica cuántica y cerebro: una revisión crítica. Rev Neurol. 2002;35(1):87–94.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Davidson D. Ensayos sobre acciones y sucesos. Barcelona: Crítica; 1995. p. 265.

    Google Scholar 

  63. Edelman G, Tononi G. Reentry and the dynamic core: neural correlates of conscious experience In: Metzinger T, editor. Neural correlates of consciousness. Massachusetts: MIT Press; 2000. pp. 139–52.

    Google Scholar 

  64. Goñi-Sáez F, Tirapu-Ustárroz J. El problema mente-cerebro (I): fundamentos ontoepistemológicos. Rev Neurol. 2016;63(3):130–9.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. García-Castro J. Nuevas teorías sobre la consciencia. eNeurobiologia. 2019;10(24):1–12. doi:www.uv.mx/eneurobiologia/vols/2019/24/24.html.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Universitario Villanueva (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Madrid, Spain

    Javier Andrés García Castro

Authors
  1. Javier Andrés García Castro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Javier Andrés García Castro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Neurosciences and Experimental Psychology Latin American Technological Corporation Foundation (FUCOTEL) Cathedra of Psychopathology, Catholic University of Argentina Area of Pharmacology Department of Pathology, National University of Cuyo CONICET, Guaymallén, Mendoza, Argentina

    Pascual Ángel Gargiulo

  2. National Academy of Medicine, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Humberto Luis Mesones Arroyo

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

García Castro, J.A. (2021). Radical Solutions to the Ontological and Epistemological Problems of Consciousness. In: Gargiulo, P.Á., Mesones Arroyo, H.L. (eds) Psychiatry and Neuroscience Update. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61721-9_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61721-9_13

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-61720-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-61721-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation