Ravi, (01)
RS> Thus in some philosophies the consciousness is the continuum
> that binds it all living or non-living! How will that fit into
> realism, nominalism or reductionism or will it be excluded by those... (02)
A purely nominalist position would exclude consciousness as something
that is not observable. The 20th century behaviorists (who were
extreme nominalists) excluded all such "mental" phenomena as outside
the province of what could be studied scientifically. (03)
Cognitive psychologists consider consciousness as something that
is real and should be explained by a complete psychological theory.
But there are many different opinions about what it is. The
simplest theory is that an animal is conscious when it's awake
and unconscious when it's asleep. (04)
Other theories focus on the point that to be conscious is to
be conscious of something. Therefore, consciousness could be
considered some kind of metalevel awareness. Instead of
merely being aware of something external, it could focus on
the awareness itself. (05)
Reductionism would reduce consciousness to some other processes.
One term for it is 'epiphenomenon' -- it's not a true phenomenon
that has to be explained, but merely a sensation that accompanies
awareness. (06)
John (07)
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