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Churchland on Reduction, Qualia, and Introspection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2022

Sydne Shoemaker
Sydne Shoemaker*
Affiliation:
Cornell University
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Extract

Churchland (1985) is much struck with the possibility that we might learn to make introspective reports in “the conceptual framework of a matured neuroscience”. He thinks that this would yield “a quantum leap in self-apprehension”. And he apparently thinks that the possibility of this strengthens the case for reductionism. I will not question the claim that we might learn to make in a quasi-introspective way the sorts of reports Churchland envisages, about dopamine levels in the limbic system, spiking frequencies in neural pathways, and so forth; nor will I question that this might have a beneficial effect on our aesthetic appreciation, our emotional self-understanding, and the like. I will question whether the awareness Churchland envisages would be genuine introspective awareness, although in some sense it would involve it.

Type
Part XIX. Qualitative Experience
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1984 , Issue 2: Volume Two: Symposia and Invited Papers 1984 , 1984 , pp. 799 - 809
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 by the Philosophy of Science Association

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References

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