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2 ideas
7366 | It is arbitrary to say which moment of brain processing is conscious [Dennett] |
Full Idea: If one wants to settle on some moment of processing in the brain as the moment of consciousness, this has to be arbitrary. | |
From: Daniel C. Dennett (Consciousness Explained [1991], 5.3) | |
A reaction: Seems eliminativist, as it implies that all that is really going on is 'processing'. But there are two senses of 'arbitrary' - that calling it consciousness is arbitrary (wrong), or thinking that mind doesn't move abruptly into consciousness (right). |
7380 | Visual experience is composed of neural activity, which we find pleasing [Dennett] |
Full Idea: All visual experience is composed of activities of neural circuits whose very activity is innately pleasing to us. | |
From: Daniel C. Dennett (Consciousness Explained [1991], 12.6) | |
A reaction: This is the nearest I can find to Dennett saying something eliminativist. It seems to beg the question of who 'us' refers to, and what is being pleased, and how it is 'pleased' by these neural circuits. The Hard Question? |