Consciousness, brain and the physical world

Abstract

Abstract Dualist and Reductionist theories of Mind disagree about whether or not consciousness can be reduced to a state of or function of the brain. They assume, however, that the contents of consciousness are separate from the external physical world as‐perceived. According to the present paper this assumption has no foundation, either in everyday experience or in science. Drawing on evidence for perceptual ‘projection’ in both interoceptive and exteroceptive sense modalities, the case is made that the physical world as‐perceived is a construct of perceptual processing and, therefore, part of the contents of consciousness—a finding which requires a Reflexive rather than a Dualist or Reductionist model of how consciousness relates to the brain and the physical world. The physical world as‐perceived may, in turn, be thought of as a biologically useful model of the world as described by physics. Redrawing the boundaries of consciousness to include the physical world as‐perceived undermines the conventional...