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Proquest Dissertations Consciousness and explanation Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Quinn, Laleh Kathleen Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 05/10/2021 09:01:13 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/289172 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, p>rint bleedthrough, substarxJard margins, arxj improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author dkl not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will t>e noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to t>e removed, a note will indicate the deletkxi. Oversize materials (e.g.. maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overfaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6' x 9' black arxl white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell lnformatk)n arxJ Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 CONSCIOUSNESS AND EXPLANATION by Laleh Kathleen Quinn A Dissertation Submitted to the Facuhy of the DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2000 UMI Number 9983882 <S)i UMI UMI Microfomi9983882 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Infomiation and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA « GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared bv Laleh K. Qulnn entitled rr.ncf^-t,-...cTiooo and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 1 ^ — ^ ' Harnish ' 1 ^ \0 laykf ____ilavitl''''TJhalmer^ 1 TT»4a DACC \ Date Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recooDend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. Q (^L / ^771.. Dissfis^uation D±T<tctoY Dat/k 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fiillfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reporoduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgement the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the following people who helped make this dissertation possible: my committee members, Robert Cummins, J. Christopher Maloney, and Mike Hamish; my parents, Robert and Manijeh Quinn; and to Andrea Chiba for providing the time and support necessary to complete the work. 5 For Doug 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 7 INTRODUCTION 9 CHAPTER ONE 14 CHAPTER TWO 55 CHAPTER THREE 109 CHAPTER FOUR 156 REFERENCES 198 7 ABSTRACT We have yet to develop a theory of explanation that will account for all of consciousness. Recent debate on this topic has been impaired because it has in large part proceeded without any explicit attention to the nature of explanation. On the one hand, the lack of commitment to any well-specified theory of explanation leads to imprecision and vagueness. On the other hand, much of the optimism concerning the possibility of explaining all aspects of consciousness stems from an attachment to the only developed theory of psychological phenomena at our disposal and the belief that all of consciousness can be captured by such a theory. Some of the inadequacy in the literature on consciousness is due to a conflation between consciousness construed as mode of presentation, that is, the way content is presented to the agent, and consciousness construed as subjective or qualitative feel. Once the two objects of concern are distinguished, we have a much clearer vision of what needs to be explained, and we can turn our focus on the proper way to do so. I argue that subjective feel is an important aspect of consciousness in need of explanation, and that an explanation of this phenomenon is distinct from an explanation of mode of presentation or representation. Furthermore, while there are well-ariiculated methods of explanation that properly address mode of presentation and rcpresentaiion, this is not the case for subjective feel. 1 delineate several genera of scientific explanation in an attempt to exhaust the possible methods by which we may be capable of explaining subjective feel. This involves the taxonomizing of types of phenomena that are the targets of our explanatory methods. While one type of explanatory strategy may be adequate when the target explanandum is a property, the 8 same strategy may fall short in explaining a single event, event type, or regularity. Subjective feel is best construed as a property. However, while the method employed by cognitive science to explain mental properties may be adequate for explaining much cognitive phenomena, I argue that it is incapable of explaining subjective feel. 9 INTRODUCTION Consciousness has not been explained. Moreover, we are not very close to explaining it. To many this is a truism. However, there are a few who think consciousness has been adequately explained, or is on the verge of succumbing to explanation in the near future.' How does one assess this polemic? Before we can even begin to resolve this issue, we must have a proper conception of explanation that all parties agree to. Additionally, the explanandum must be made clear. Of course, the question "what is consciousness?" is presently the target of most of the work being done on consciousness, but it is my contention that this is not the proper question about consciousness. It may be helpful to look to early works on consciousness in attempting to get clear on this issue. Those who think that an explanation of consciousness is not imminent tend to appeal to the sort of intuition that Nagel (1974) has made so forcefully. There we find conscious mental states equated with subjective feel or, in other words, with states there is something it is like to be in. According to Nagel this subjective character of experience is not amenable to physicalistic/scientific analysis. Getting clear on Nagel's argument gives insight into what type of explanation is wanted in the case of consciousness and why those who follow Nagel do not think an explanation is forthcoming. The important thing to note concerning Nagel's pessimism is sometimes lost in the literature. Many have taken Nagel's conclusion to be about the ontology- ' Thus we find such works as Dennett's Consciousness Explained and Flanagan's Consciousness Reconsidered, the former beheving we already have an explanation, the latter believing we are very close to having a full explanation of consciousness. 10 of consciousness as opposed to the explanation of it. But a careful reading of Nagel shows that the issue of ontology is, at best peripheral. What the problem is for him, and what I take it to be, is that even if we could somehow be assured of the ontological status of consciousness, we still would be in the dark concerning how to explain it. For some, this is not the case. Dennett (1991) has boldly claimed that consciousness has been explained, and others like Dretske (1995), Lycan (1996), Rosenthal (1986, 1993a, 1993b), and Rey (1992) think that we have the tools at our disposal right now fully to explain consciousness. It is clear, however, that much of the time the optimists do not treat subjective feel as the proper explanandum, or if they do claim it as the proper explanandum, they attempt to reduce it to something else, e.g. some form of representation, and leave it at that. Those who think consciousness can be explained sometimes have notions of consciousness that can be far removed from that which concerned Nagel, and has come to concern many others (Searle 1992, Chalmers, 1996 etc.). I sympathize with the pessimists and their concern with our understanding of subjective feel. In the first chapter I will start out by discussing what 1 take to be a conflation in the literature on consciousness between consciousness construed as mode of presentation and consciousness construed as subjective feel. I have chosen two views -- John Searlc's and William Lycan's -- as a jumping off point for the discussion.
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