Dynamical agents

consciousness, causation, and two specters of epiphenomenalism

Liam Dempsey

Itay Shani

pp. 225-243

in: Phenomenology and the cognitive sciences 8 (2), 2009.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to defend the causal efficacy of consciousness against two specters of epiphenomenalism. We argue that these challenges are best met, on the one hand, by rejecting all forms of consciousness-body dualism, and on the other, by adopting a dynamical systems approach to understanding the causal efficacy of conscious experience. We argue that this non-reductive identity theory provides the theoretical resources for reconciling the reality and efficacy of consciousness with the neurophysiology of the brain and body.