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Related Experiment Videos

Consciousness and biological evolution

B I Lindahl1

  • 1Department of Philosophy, Stockholm University, Sweden.

Journal of Theoretical Biology
|August 21, 1997
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Consciousness may have evolved with survival value, but Darwinian natural selection doesn't rule out it being a byproduct of brain evolution. Mind-brain interaction remains a plausible theory.

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Area of Science:

  • Philosophy of Mind
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • The role of consciousness in biological evolution is debated.
  • Natural selection may have favored consciousness if it provided a survival advantage.
  • The efficacy of consciousness in evolution is a key consideration.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine arguments for mind-brain interaction in evolutionary context.
  • To analyze the views of William James, Karl Popper, and C.D. Broad.
  • To assess the plausibility of consciousness having evolved a survival value.

Main Methods:

  • Philosophical analysis of evolutionary and interactionist theories.
  • Examination of arguments concerning the efficacy of consciousness.

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  • Discussion of the identity problem between mental and neural phenomena.

    • Main Results:

    • Darwinian natural selection does not exclude consciousness evolving as a byproduct of nervous system development.
    • The possibility of mental phenomena being identical to neural phenomena is not ruled out.
    • Consciousness evolving as a causally inert effect is a possibility.

    Conclusions:

    • While not definitively disproven, alternative explanations exist for consciousness's evolution.
    • The interactionist theory of mind-brain interaction remains a compelling and fruitful perspective.
    • Further discussion is warranted on the causal efficacy of consciousness in evolution.