Consciousness studies, at its core, focuses on an old philosophical problem,
the mind-body problem. This problem, namely that of the relationship between
the physical body and the apparently non-physical subjective nature of the
mind, is commonly seen as a legacy of the philosophy of Descartes. This
problem is seen as either a problem in or with Western philosophy
depending on whether one takes the separation of the mind and the body as a given
or as a mistake. Certainly common sense intuition can understand the distinction,
but reflecting on the nature of consciousness usually leaves those who stop at common
sense perplexed or gracefully bowing out of the discussion.
The philosopher David Chalmers has formulated the mind-body problem as follows
"The really hard problem of consciousness is the problem of experience. When
we think and perceive, there is a whir of information-processing, but there is
also a subjective aspect. As Nagel(1974) has put it, there is something it is
like to be a conscious organism. This subjective aspect is experience. When
we see, for example, we experience visual sensations: the felt quality of
redness, the experience of dark and light, the quality of depth in a visual
field."
Since we can imagine that the brain in all its complexity could function and
not produce 'awareness', it is not obvious just what the brain does that allows
us to know that we know. Knowing what the brain is doing does not equal being
conscious. Obviously, we can observe the electrical activity of the brain, but
this does not induce in the observer the contents of that brain's consciousness.
Some of the activity in our brains corresponds with our momentary conscious
awareness while other activity does not. And if, as it can be shown, colors
are not simple properties of objects in the world but a correspondence of a
variety of properties as distinguished by the brain, then why is red reddish
and blue bluish? Do we all perceive colors the same way or might your 'red' look
'blue' to me? Is there any way we could tell? And if not does it make any practical
difference? Should we look for an answer to this or accept these colors (for instance),
these qualia, as fundamental properties of consciousness?
Science has, in an exciting way, forced us to focus on this unresolved issue in
Western philosophy and culture. Consciousness studies is an emerging field in the
traditional sciences that asks these tough questions and expects proven answers.
But the door has been thrown open wide here and perspectives from other cultures
are being referenced, non-scientific ones, in order to help conceive of the kind
of experiment that makes sense in this long standing philosophical question.
Some cultures offer a philosophy of 'no self' while others have placed the individual
in the center of moral, financial, legal and spiritual responsibility. The question
of the nature of the relationship between the mind and the body is thereby formed
by a culture in which the question is asked. Just as different cultures have differing
color palletes they also have different language for 'self' and 'awareness'. These
differing perspectives help to inform what questions need to be asked and answered.
The links below take you to websites that represent the consciousness studies community.