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Hard Problem Of Consciousness Essay

774 Words4 Pages

Does hard problem of consciousness exist?
When we think of consciousness, we think of the awareness of our individual thoughts, memories, feelings, sensation, and the surrounding environment. Consciousness is a very important part of us, yet it is also one of the most complex parts. Consciousness is something we experience constantly, yet we are not able to measure it, and do not have enough words to describe it. We are aware of its existence, but cannot physically hold it within our grasp. Despite the different definitions from several branches of science, consciousness is so abstract that the many experts of each science have a hard time finding the appropriate terms to describe it. This is part of the problem of consciousness David Chalmers discusses in his paper, Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness. Chalmers coined the term “hard problem of consciousness” in 1994. The hard problem of …show more content…

Like he mentions in his paper, science can only explain the questions how the functions of the brain correlates with consciousness and what parts of the brains produce that function, but not the question of why. Chalmers argument of the hard problem of consciousness acknowledges that there are some questions being left unanswered by current science. A scientist can ask “when" and "where" does consciousness appear, but these are questions that can be answered locating the certain functions and processes that occur in the brain. Scientist studying the brain can study the certain parts of the brain that correlate with consciousness, but are not able to study consciousness directly. These are part of the “easy problem” of consciousness since it involves the functions. It is possible that the brain can produce consciousness. It is a possibility; however, the question of the hard problem is what consciousness is, and why does it exists with subjective

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