Generality and content-specificity in the study of the neural correlates of perceptual consciousness

0539101 - FLÚ 2021 RIV DE eng J - Journal Article
Marvan, Tomáš - Polák, M.
Generality and content-specificity in the study of the neural correlates of perceptual consciousness.
Philosophy and the Mind Sciences. Roč. 1, č. 2 (2020), s. 1-17. ISSN 2699-0369
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA20-14445S
Institutional support: RVO:67985955
Keywords : Content-specific NCC * General neural correlate of consciousness * Perceptual Experience
OECD category: Philosophy, History and Philosophy of science and technology
Method of publishing: Open access
https://doi.org/10.33735/phimisci.2020.II.61

The present paper was written as a contribution to ongoing methodological debates within the NCC project. We focus on the neural correlates of conscious perceptual episodes. Our claim is that the NCC notion, as applied to conscious perceptual episodes, needs to be reconceptualized. It mixes together the processing related to the perceived contents and the neural substrate of consciousness proper, i.e. mechanisms making the perceptual contents conscious. We thus propose that the perceptual NCC be divided into two constitutive subnotions. The main theoretical idea that emerges as a consequence of this reconceptualization is that the neural correlate of a perceptual episode is formed in the neural interaction between content-processing and consciousness-conferring mechanisms. The paper elaborates this distinction, marshals some initial arguments in its favour, and tests it against some of the most debated theories of consciousness.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0316846