Le secret de la chambre chinoise

Abstract

It is shown, both deductively and with the help of the empirical evidence provided by Libet, that consciousness is deprived of any decisional power. Consciousness' role is confined to transmitting instructions to the body as a function of the affect both generated and evoked by perception. The existence of language allows human subjects to produce a self-justification discourse about their own thoughts and deeds. Such discourse does not reflect accurately however the psychological mechanisms effectively at work. The impact of consciousness consists only in influencing both the affect of the speaker him/herself (whether under the form of proper speech or under that of "inner speech"), and the affect of any hearer. The "body" and "soul" pair is thus vindicated but the responsibilities traditionally assigned to each need to be reformulated, contrasting on the one hand a body making decisions and acting accordingly, and a soul confined to retro-acting and at the level of the affect only.