The evolution of consciousness
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13041471 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Max Velmans (0000-0002-5684-5331, Goldsmiths University of London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 117-138 |
| Publication date | 2012-05-31 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Contemporary Social Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2158-2041 • E-ISSN: 2158-205X |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/21582041.2012.692099 |
| OpenAlex | W1980231299 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 41 |
There have been various attempts to apply Darwinian evolutionary theory to an understanding of the human condition within psychology and the social sciences. This paper evaluates whether Darwinian theory can explain human consciousness. Starting with a brief definition of phenomenal consciousness and the central features of evolutionary theory, the paper examines whether random variations in the genome that confer a selective, reproductive advantage can explain both the emergence of consciousness and its varied forms. To inform the discussion, the paper reviews what is known about the conditions for consciousness within the human mind/brain, understood in both structural (neural) terms and functional terms (in terms of human information processing), and concludes that ‘random variations in the genome’ provide no explanatory mechanism for why some neural activities (but not others) are accompanied by consciousness. The paper then evaluates the many functional advantages that have been proposed for various forms of phenomenal consciousness once they emerge, and concludes that, on close examination, phenomenal experiences themselves do not carry out the information processing functions attributed to them, which challenges the Darwinian requirement that they could only have persisted (once emergent) it they enhanced reproductive fitness. The paper turns finally to what can be said about wider distribution of consciousness in non-humans, contrasting discontinuity theories with continuity theories. Discontinuity theories argue for a critical functional transition that ‘switches on consciousness’ while continuity theories argue for a gradual transition in consciousness from unrecognisable to recognisable. All theories accept that there is an intimate, natural relationship of conscious experiences with their associated material forms. Consequently, as the material forms evolve, their associated experiences co-evolve—suggesting an indirect mechanism by which the emergence of species-specific forms of consciousness can be influenced by Darwinian evolution. It also allows a non-reductive understanding of human consciousness within the social sciences
Cognition · Cognitive science · Consciousness · Darwinism · Electromagnetic theories of consciousness · Epistemology · Evolutionary psychology · Neural correlates of consciousness · Sociology · Child and Animal Learning Development · Embodied and Extended Cognition · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Neuroscience · Philosophy · Psychology
Panpsychism in the West
Perception and communication.
The principles of psychology, Vol I.
The principles of psychology.
Protocol Analysis
The Self and Its Brain
Human Memory
Chimpanzees
What the Frog's Eye Tells the Frog's Brain
Towards a cognitive neuroscience of consciousness
Scientific Approaches to Consciousness
Understanding Consciousness
Panpsychism in the West
Large scale temporal coordination of cortical activity as prerequisite for conscious experience
Self‐awareness and the emergence of mind in primates
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
The Evolution of Human Consciousness
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
| Citations per year | 0.14 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2012 - 2020 (9) |
| Highly cited | No |