"A Virtual Agent In A Virtual World": A Brief Overview of Thomas Metzinger's Account Of Consciousness

by Roland Williamson

In the recent past different cognitive scientists have arrived at vastly different results regarding precisely what is involved in human consciousness, depending on which angle they have approached consciousness from. In this very short eBook I will first survey two approaches which are diametrically opposed: the phenomenological approach adopted by David Chalmers and Colin McGinn and the eliminativist approach to consciousness adopted by Paul Churchland. After surveying these accounts, I will examine Thomas Metzinger’s theory of consciousness. I will be arguing that Metzinger’s concept of the “phenomenal self-model” not only enables him to incorporate the essential aspects of each of these positions but can moreover be directly integrated into current neuroscientific research. In order to demonstrate this, I will examine how the concept of the phenomenal self-model can enable us to more adequately comprehend the “simultaneity” of conscious experience, as well as the neurological phenomenon of phantom limbs.

23 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 13, 2017