Cargando…

On the Necessity of Consciousness for Sophisticated Human Action

In this essay, we aim to counter and qualify the epiphenomenalist challenge proposed in this special issue on the grounds of empirical and theoretical arguments. The current body of scientific knowledge strongly indicates that conscious thought is a necessary condition for many human behaviors, and...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Baumeister, Roy F., Lau, Stephan, Maranges, Heather M., Clark, Cory J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6186836/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30349503
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01925
_version_ 1783362916112662528
author Baumeister, Roy F.
Lau, Stephan
Maranges, Heather M.
Clark, Cory J.
author_facet Baumeister, Roy F.
Lau, Stephan
Maranges, Heather M.
Clark, Cory J.
author_sort Baumeister, Roy F.
collection PubMed
description In this essay, we aim to counter and qualify the epiphenomenalist challenge proposed in this special issue on the grounds of empirical and theoretical arguments. The current body of scientific knowledge strongly indicates that conscious thought is a necessary condition for many human behaviors, and therefore, consciousness qualifies as a cause of those behaviors. We review illustrative experimental evidence for the causal power of conscious thought while also acknowledging its natural limitations. We argue that it is implausible that the metabolic costs inherent to conscious processes would have evolved in humans without any adaptive benefits. Moreover, we discuss the relevance of conscious thought to the issue of freedom. Many accounts hold conscious thought as necessary and conducive to naturalistic conceptions of personal freedom. Apart from these theories, we show that the conscious perception of freedom and the belief in free will provide sources of interesting findings, beneficial behavioral effects, and new avenues for research. We close by proposing our own challenge via outlining the gaps that have yet to be filled to establish hard evidence of an epiphenomenal model of consciousness. To be sure, we appreciate the epiphenomenalist challenge as it promotes critical thinking and inspires rigorous research. However, we see no merit in downplaying the causal significance of consciousness a priori. Instead, we believe it more worthwhile to focus on the complex interplay between conscious and other causal processes.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6186836
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2018
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-61868362018-10-22 On the Necessity of Consciousness for Sophisticated Human Action Baumeister, Roy F. Lau, Stephan Maranges, Heather M. Clark, Cory J. Front Psychol Psychology In this essay, we aim to counter and qualify the epiphenomenalist challenge proposed in this special issue on the grounds of empirical and theoretical arguments. The current body of scientific knowledge strongly indicates that conscious thought is a necessary condition for many human behaviors, and therefore, consciousness qualifies as a cause of those behaviors. We review illustrative experimental evidence for the causal power of conscious thought while also acknowledging its natural limitations. We argue that it is implausible that the metabolic costs inherent to conscious processes would have evolved in humans without any adaptive benefits. Moreover, we discuss the relevance of conscious thought to the issue of freedom. Many accounts hold conscious thought as necessary and conducive to naturalistic conceptions of personal freedom. Apart from these theories, we show that the conscious perception of freedom and the belief in free will provide sources of interesting findings, beneficial behavioral effects, and new avenues for research. We close by proposing our own challenge via outlining the gaps that have yet to be filled to establish hard evidence of an epiphenomenal model of consciousness. To be sure, we appreciate the epiphenomenalist challenge as it promotes critical thinking and inspires rigorous research. However, we see no merit in downplaying the causal significance of consciousness a priori. Instead, we believe it more worthwhile to focus on the complex interplay between conscious and other causal processes. Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-10-08 /pmc/articles/PMC6186836/ /pubmed/30349503 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01925 Text en Copyright © 2018 Baumeister, Lau, Maranges and Clark. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Baumeister, Roy F.
Lau, Stephan
Maranges, Heather M.
Clark, Cory J.
On the Necessity of Consciousness for Sophisticated Human Action
title On the Necessity of Consciousness for Sophisticated Human Action
title_full On the Necessity of Consciousness for Sophisticated Human Action
title_fullStr On the Necessity of Consciousness for Sophisticated Human Action
title_full_unstemmed On the Necessity of Consciousness for Sophisticated Human Action
title_short On the Necessity of Consciousness for Sophisticated Human Action
title_sort on the necessity of consciousness for sophisticated human action
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6186836/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30349503
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01925
work_keys_str_mv AT baumeisterroyf onthenecessityofconsciousnessforsophisticatedhumanaction
AT laustephan onthenecessityofconsciousnessforsophisticatedhumanaction
AT marangesheatherm onthenecessityofconsciousnessforsophisticatedhumanaction
AT clarkcoryj onthenecessityofconsciousnessforsophisticatedhumanaction