Abstract
The hard problem of consciousness has been a perennially vexing issue for the study of consciousness, particularly in giving a scientific and naturalized account of phenomenal experience. At the heart of the hard problem is an often-overlooked argument, which is at the core of the hard problem, and that is the structure and dynamics (S&D) argument. In this essay, I will argue that we have good reason to suspect that the S&D argument given by David Chalmers rests on a limited conception of S&D properties, what in this essay I’m calling extrinsic structure and dynamics. I argue that if we take recent insights from the complexity sciences and from recent developments in Integrated Information Theory (IIT) of Consciousness, that we get a more nuanced picture of S&D, specifically, a class of properties I’m calling intrinsic structure and dynamics. This I think opens the door to a broader class of properties with which we might naturally and scientifically explain phenomenal experience, as well as the relationship between syntactic, semantic, and intrinsic notions of information. I argue that Chalmers’ characterization of structure and dynamics in his S&D argument paints them with too broad a brush and fails to account for important nuances, especially when considering accounting for a system’s intrinsic properties. Ultimately, my hope is to vindicate a certain species of explanation from the S&D argument, and by extension dissolve the hard problem of consciousness at its core, by showing that not all structure and dynamics are equal.
Highlights
The structure and dynamics (S&D) argument from Chalmers [1] is taken as a backbone of the hard problem of consciousness [2,3]
(Section 2) we discussed some recent work in complexity science in developing a semantic notion of information which I argued reveals that there are structural and dynamical features of the kind Chalmers describes, and intrinsic S&D of the kind we get when we look at the interaction of elements in the system, rather than the elements themselves
Assuming that the only kind of structure and dynamics are extrinsic S&D is a sure-fire way to miss out on the question worth asking, which is, if we find ourselves in a world governed by a complicated array of structural and dynamical properties what are the ones which have an internal perspective on their own processes as they unfold? If we are looking for a natural explanation of phenomenal experience that should be what our concern is and shedding light on the nuance of what kinds of structural and dynamical properties/processes there are, is the right way to advance this effort
Summary
The structure and dynamics (S&D) argument from Chalmers [1] is taken as a backbone of the hard problem of consciousness [2,3]. I broadly see the project of giving an information-theoretic explanation of consciousness, one which overcomes the hard problem and S&D argument, as giving an explanation of how syntax relates to semantics and how these relate to intrinsic information Each of these different notions of information will be given an explanation within this section to better elucidate how a more nuanced understanding of structure and dynamics might shed light on possible explanations of how phenomenal experience comes about in certain naturally occurring complex systems. I have merely wanted to highlight that it is possible to generate a notion of meaning–a semantic notion of information from purely structural and dynamical properties Mind you, this case has been understanding meaning from an extrinsic point of view, that is, some observer intervening on a system (i.e., the bird or R2D2) in the context of its environment (i.e., the location of food caches or repair/charging stations). The following section will delve more deeply into this distinction and give an argument as to why not all structure and dynamics are equal
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