Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2021 Jan-Jan;12(2):86-88.
doi: 10.1080/17588928.2020.1841744. Epub 2020 Nov 11.

Theories of consciousness are solutions in need of problems

Stephen M Fleming  1
Affiliations
Comment

Theories of consciousness are solutions in need of problems

Stephen M Fleming. Cogn Neurosci. 2021 Jan-Jan.

Abstract

Doerig et al. point out a number of shortcomings with existing theories of consciousness and argue they should be systematically constrained by empirical data. In this commentary I suggest a further constraint - the potential functions of (the contents of) consciousness. One such candidate function in humans is the social sharing of reportable mental states. The social function of consciousnessprovides a general framework within which to understand the evolution and neurobiology of conscious awareness.

Keywords: computation; consciousness; social function.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

Comment on

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources