Volume 7 · Number 3 ·
Pages 165–173
Neurophenomenology, an Ongoing Practice of/in Consciousness
Log in to download the full text for free
Abstract
Context: In his work on neurophenomenology, the late Francisco Varela overtly tackled the well-known “hard problem” of the (physical) origin of phenomenal consciousness. Problem: Did he have a theory for solving this problem? No, he declared, only a “remedy.” Yet this declaration has been overlooked: Varela has been considered (successively or simultaneously) as an idealist, a dualist, or an identity theorist. Results: These primarily theoretical characterizations of Varela’s position are first shown to be incorrect. Then it is argued that there exists a stance (let’s call it the Varelian stance) in which the problem of the physical origin of primary consciousness, or pure experience, does not even arise. Implications: The nature of the “hard problem” of consciousness is changed from an intellectual puzzle to an existential option. Constructivist content: The role of ontological prejudice about what the world is made of (a prejudice that determines the very form of the “hard problem” as the issue of the origin of consciousness out of a pre-existing material organization) is downplayed, and methodologies and attitudes are put to the fore.
Key words: First-person approaches, non-dualism, idealism, Francisco Varela, Edmund Husserl.
Citation
Bitbol M. (2012) Neurophenomenology, an ongoing practice of/in consciousness. Constructivist Foundations 7(3): 165–173. http://constructivist.info/7/3/165
Export article citation data: Plain Text · BibTex · EndNote · Reference Manager (RIS)
Similar articles
References
Amstrong D. M. (1993) A materialist theory of the mind. Routledge, London. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Batchelor S. (2000) Verses from the centre. Riverhead Hardcover, New York. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Bayne T. (2004) Closing the gap? Some questions for neurophenomenology. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 3: 349–364. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Bilodeau D. J. (1996) Physics, machines and the hard problem. Journal of Consciousness Studies 3: 386–401. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Bitbol M. (2000) Physique et philosophie de l’esprit. Flammarion, Paris. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Bitbol M. (2002) Science as if situation mattered. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Science 1: 181–224. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Bitbol M. (2006) Une science de la conscience équitable: L’actualité de la neurophénoménologie de Francisco Varela. Intellectica 43: 135–157. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Bitbol M. (2007) Ontology, matter and emergence. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Science 6: 293–307. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Bitbol M. (2008) Consciousness, situations, and the measurement problem of quantum mechanics. NeuroQuantology 6: 203–213. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Bitbol M. (2008) Is consciousness primary? NeuroQuantology 6: 53–71. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Bitbol-Hespériès A. (2000) Descartes face à la mélancolie de la Princesse Elisabeth. In: Melkevik B. & Narbonne J.-M. (eds.) Une philosophie dans l’histoire, hommages à Raymond Klibansky. Presses de l’Université de Laval, Montréal: 229–250. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Carnap R. (1936) Existe-t-il des prémisses de la science qui soient incontrôlables? Translated by Henri Buriot-Darsiles. Scientia LX: 129–135. Note: Carnap’s original German paper was never published. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Chalmers D. J. (1996) The conscious mind. In search of a fundamental theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Chalmers D. J. (1997) Moving forward on the problem of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness studies 4: 3–46. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Damasio A. (1995) Descartes’ error: Emotion, reason and the human brain. New York: Harper Perennial. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Davidson D. (1980) Essays on actions and events. Clarendon Press, Oxford. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Descartes R. (1991) The philosophical writings III. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Elie M. (1993) Lumière, couleurs et nature. Vrin, Paris. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Feigl H. (1970) Mind-Body, not a pseudo-problem. In: Borst C. V. (ed.) The mind-brain identity theory. McMillan, London: 33–42. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Gallagher S. & Zahavi D. (2008) The phenomenological mind. Routledge: New York. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Hardcastle V. G. (1996) The why of consciousness: a non-issue for materialists. Journal of Consciousness Studies 3: 7–13. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Henry M. (1985) Généalogie de la psychanalyse. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Husserl E. (1964) The phenomenology of internal time-consciousness. Translated by James S. Churchill. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. German original: Husserl E. (1928) Vorlesungen zur Phänomenologie des inneren Zeitbewusstseins. Niemeyer, Halle. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Husserl E. (1977) Cartesian meditations: An introduction to phenomenology. Martinus Nijhoff, Den Haag. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Hut P. & Shepard R. N. (1998) Turning the “hard problem” upside down and sideways. In: Shear J. (ed.) Explaining consciousness, the hard problem. MIT Press, Cambridge. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
James W. (2003) Essays of radical empiricism. Dover Publications: London. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Lachaux J.-P. (2011) If no control, then what? Journal of Consciousness Studies 18: 162–166. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Lockwood M. (1993) Dennett’s mind. Inquiry 36: 59–72. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Lutz A. & Thompson E. (2003) Neurophenomenology: Integrating subjective experience and brain dynamics in the neuroscience of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies 10: 31–52. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Merleau-Ponty M. (1964) Le visible et l’invisible. Gallimard, Paris. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Natorp P. (1912) Allgemeine Psychologie nach kritischer Methode. Tübingen: Mohr. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Peschard I. & Bitbol M. (2008) Heat, temperature and phenomenal concepts. In: Wright E. (ed.) The case for qualia. MIT Press, Cambridge: 155–174. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Petitmengin C. & Bitbol M. (2009) The validity of first-person descriptions as authenticity and coherence. Journal of Consciousness Studies 16: 363–404. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Petitmengin C., Navarro V. & Baulac M. (2006) Seizure anticipation: Are neuro-phenomenological approaches able to detect preictal symptoms? Epilepsy and Behavior 9: 298–306. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Place U. T. (1956) Is Consciousness a brain process? British Journal of Psychology 47: 44–50. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Rudrauf D., Lutz A., Cosmelli D., Lachaux J.-P. & Le Van Quyen M. (2003) From autopoiesis to neurophenomenology: Francisco Varela’s exploration of the biophysics of being, Biological Research 36: 27–65. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Ryle G. (1949) The concept of mind. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Schrödinger E. (1967) What is life? Mind and matter. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Searle J. (1992) The rediscovery of the mind. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Taraborelli D. & Mossio M. (2008) On the relation between the enactive and the sensorimotor approach to perception, Consciousness and Cognition 17(4): 1343–1344. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Thompson E. & Varela F. J. (2001) Radical embodiment: Neural dynamics and consciousness. Trends in cognitive science 5: 418–425. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Thompson E. (2007) Mind in life. Belknap Press, Cambridge MA. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Van Fraassen B. (1980) The scientific image. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Varela F. J. & Depraz N. (2000) At the source of time: Valence and the constitutional dynamics of affect. Journal of Consciousness Studies 12: 64–81. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Varela F. J. & Shear J. (1999) The view from within. Imprint Academic, London. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Varela F. J. (1976) Not one, not two. The coevolution quarterly. Fall 1976: 62–67. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Varela F. J. (1996) Neurophenomenology. Journal of Consciousness Studies 3: 330–349. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Varela F. J. (1997) The naturalization of phenomenology as the transcendence of nature: Searching for mutual generative constraints. Alter: Revue de Phénoménologie 5: 355–385. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Varela F. J. (1998) A science of consciousness as if experience mattered. In: Hameroff S., Kaszniak A. W. & A. C. Scott (eds.) Towards a science of consciousness II: The second Tucson discussions and debates. MIT Press, Cambridge: 31–44. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Varela F. J. (1999) Dasein’s brain: Phenomenology meets cognitive science. In: Aerts D. (ed.) Einstein meets Magritte. The white book. Kluwer, Dordrecht: 185–197. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Varela F. J. (1999) Present-time consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies 6(2–3): 111–140. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Comments: 0
To stay informed about comments to this publication and post comments yourself, please log in first.