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Non-human consciousness and the specificity problem: A modest theoretical proposal

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Change log

Abstract

jats:pMost scientific theories of consciousness are challenging to apply outside the human case insofar as non‐human systems (both biological and artificial) are unlikely to implement human architecture precisely, an issue I call thejats:italicspecificity problem</jats:italic>. After providing some background on the theories of consciousness debate, I survey the prospects of four approaches to this problem. I then consider a fifth solution, namely thejats:italictheory‐light approach</jats:italic>proposed by Jonathan Birch. I defend a modified version of this that I term thejats:italicmodest theoretical approach</jats:italic>, arguing that it may provide insights into challenging cases that would otherwise be intractable.</jats:p>

Description

Keywords

animal cognition, consciousness, measurement of consciousness, non-human consciousness, other minds, theories of consciousness

Journal Title

Mind and Language

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0268-1064
1468-0017

Volume Title

36

Publisher

Wiley
Sponsorship
Leverhulme Trust (RC‐2015‐067)