Phenomenal Consciousness and Emergence: Eliminating the Explanatory Gap

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Philosophy of Mind
• Complex Systems Theory

Background:

• The century-old debate on emergence and consciousness remains unresolved.
• Controversy exists regarding whether
• strong
• emergence is necessary to explain phenomenal consciousness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To apply complex system theory to trace emergent features of life and brains.
• To demonstrate that phenomenal consciousness is an emergent property within physical systems.
• To address philosophical conundrums of the brain-consciousness explanatory gap.

Main Methods:

• Analyzing three progressive levels of biological and neurobiological complexity: life, nervous systems, and special neurobiological features.
• Utilizing complex system theory to model emergent properties.
• Evaluating consciousness against the criteria of emergent properties.

Main Results:

• Phenomenal consciousness emerges from the combination of an organism's life and specialized neurobiological features.
• Consciousness meets the criteria for emergent properties, characterized by extreme complexity.
• The study supports a model of
• weak
• emergence for consciousness, resolving the scientific explanatory gap.

Conclusions:

• Consciousness arises from the integration of life and complex nervous systems that optimize emergent neurobiological features.
• Phenomenal consciousness is an example of standard, or
• weak
• , emergence.
• While a scientific explanatory gap is resolved, an
• experiential
• or epistemic gap persists but is ontologically unproblematic.