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Four Theses About Qualia and Matter: From Quality to Structure, from Structure to Functions

Received: 2 April 2017     Accepted: 18 April 2017     Published: 1 June 2017
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Abstract

The mind-body problem is considered here in terms of quality and structure, which are believed to be intimately related. Both qualia, the elements of phenomenal consciousness, and their material causes possess specific structure of inner relations founded by their qualitative nature. This seems to define their functions in the process of cognition. Qualia are intrinsically organized as a complex multifold system, where the general relations, forms, and properties are represented as quasi-separated phenomena. Reflected by the structure of the brain physical processes, they may assist to conceive the general laws and regularities of nature, thereby helping a subject to optimize his behavioral strategy.

Published in International Journal of Philosophy (Volume 5, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijp.20170503.11
Page(s) 23-29
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Qualia, Matter, Mind-Body Problem, “the Hard” Problem of Consciousness

References
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[4] D. Dennett. From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2017.
[5] F. Jackson. (1982) Epiphenomenal Qualia, in Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 32, 1982, pp. 127-136.
[6] P. Churchland. Eliminative Materialism and the Propositional Attitudes, in the Journal of Philosophy, Volume 78, Issue 2, 1981, pp. 67-90.
[7] D. C. Dennett. Instead of Qualia, in Brainchildren. Essays on Designing Minds, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998.
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[9] G. Graham, T. Horgan, J. Tienson. Phenomenology, Intentionality, and the Unity of Mind, in the Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Mind, Oxford NY: Oxford University Press, 2009.
[10] J. Searle. The Rediscovery of the Mind, in a Bradford Book, First MIT Press P., 1994.
[11] J. R. Searle. Why I am not a Property Dualist, in Journal of Consciousness Studies, Volume 9, Issue 12, 2002, pp. 57-64.
[12] J. Kim. Mental Causation, in the Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Mind, Oxford NY: Oxford University Press, 2009.
[13] K. Loorits. Structural Qualia: a Solution to the Hard Problem of Consciousness, in Frontiers in Psychology, Volume 5, 2014, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00237.
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[16] V. S. Ramachandran, W. Hirstein. Three Laws of Qualia, in Journal of Consciousness Studies, Volume 4, Issue 5-6, 1997, pp. 429-458.
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  • APA Style

    Aleksandr Vladimirovich Zhuravlev. (2017). Four Theses About Qualia and Matter: From Quality to Structure, from Structure to Functions. International Journal of Philosophy, 5(3), 23-29. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20170503.11

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    ACS Style

    Aleksandr Vladimirovich Zhuravlev. Four Theses About Qualia and Matter: From Quality to Structure, from Structure to Functions. Int. J. Philos. 2017, 5(3), 23-29. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20170503.11

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    AMA Style

    Aleksandr Vladimirovich Zhuravlev. Four Theses About Qualia and Matter: From Quality to Structure, from Structure to Functions. Int J Philos. 2017;5(3):23-29. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20170503.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijp.20170503.11,
      author = {Aleksandr Vladimirovich Zhuravlev},
      title = {Four Theses About Qualia and Matter: From Quality to Structure, from Structure to Functions},
      journal = {International Journal of Philosophy},
      volume = {5},
      number = {3},
      pages = {23-29},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijp.20170503.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20170503.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijp.20170503.11},
      abstract = {The mind-body problem is considered here in terms of quality and structure, which are believed to be intimately related. Both qualia, the elements of phenomenal consciousness, and their material causes possess specific structure of inner relations founded by their qualitative nature. This seems to define their functions in the process of cognition. Qualia are intrinsically organized as a complex multifold system, where the general relations, forms, and properties are represented as quasi-separated phenomena. Reflected by the structure of the brain physical processes, they may assist to conceive the general laws and regularities of nature, thereby helping a subject to optimize his behavioral strategy.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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Author Information
  • Neurogenetics Laboratory, Pavlov Institute of Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

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