On the Search for the Neural Correlate of Consciousness

Abstract

This is a constructive analysis of the search for the "neural correlate of consciousness" (or the NCC, as it's sometimes called). I argue that because we don't have any way of detecting consciousness directly (i.e., we have no "consciousness meter"), the search is driven by pre-empirical bridging principles instead. I discuss some of these principles and draw some conclusions about the shape of the search. This paper is largely a transcript of my talk at the 1996 Tucson conference on consciousness, although some fun and games have been omitted.