Bruce Bridgeman (1992) Consciousness: What's the Use?
. Psycoloquy: 3(35) Consciousness (17)
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Psycoloquy 3(35): Consciousness: What's the Use?
CONSCIOUSNESS: WHAT'S THE USE?
Reply to Velmans on Bridgeman on Consciousness
Bruce Bridgeman
Dept. of Psychology
Kerr Hall UCSC
Santa Cruz, Ca. 95064
(408) 459-4005
bruceb@cats.ucsc.edu
Abstract
Velmans (1992) questions the necessity of consciousness
for mental functions, considering consciousness to be a state
rather than a process i.e. a result rather than a cause. If the
introspection of consciousness is the result of an episodic memory
system that engages plans, the question of function loses much of
its meaning. Only plan execution has a function, not its
concomitant consciousness. If this conception of consciousness is a
form of epiphenomenalism, so be it. Unlike the epiphenomenalism of
traditional philosophy of mind, this epiphenomenalism echoes a real
system with a real function. It is this epiphenomenon that defines
our mental life.
Keywords
consciousness, language, plans, motivation, evolution,
motor system
References
- Bridgeman, B. (1988) The Biology of Behavior and Mind. Ch. 11: Memory. New York: Wiley.
- Mandler, G. (1975) Mind and Emotion. New York: Wiley.
- Velmans, M. (1991) Is human information processing conscious? The Behavioral and Brain Sciences 14(4): 651-669.
- Velmans, Max (1992) Consciousness and Planning: Commentary on Bridgeman on Consciousness. PSYCOLOQUY 3(34) consciousness.16