creators_name: Harnad, Stevan type: journalp datestamp: 2001-06-18 lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:54:40 metadata_visibility: show title: Consciousness: An afterthought ispublished: pub subjects: cog-psy subjects: comp-sci-art-intel subjects: phil-mind full_text_status: public keywords: mind/body problem, consciousness, causality, cognitive medeling, qualia, epiphenomenalism, free will abstract: Our sense that we do something deliberately may be an afterthought that arises after our brains have already triggered our action unconsciously. Consciousness itself may be a similar illusory afterthought, with no direct causal role. In any case, Methodological epiphenomenalism, together with the Turing Test, seem to be be the best strategy for cognitive modelling. date: 1982 date_type: published publication: Cognition and Brain Theory volume: 5 pagerange: 29-47 refereed: TRUE referencetext: Buser, P. A. & Rougeul-Buser, A. (1978) (eds.) Cerebral correlates of conscious experience. Amsterdam: North Holland, 1978. Eccles, J. C. (1978) A critical appraisal of brain-mind theories. In: Buser & Rougeul-Buser (1978, 347 - 355). Fodor, J. A. (1975) The language of thought New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Fodor, J. A. (1980) Methodological solipsism considered as a research strategy in cognitive psychology. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3: 63 - 109. Fodor, J. A. (1981) RePresentations. Cambridge MA: MIT/Bradford. Fodor, J. A. (1985) Precis of The Modularity of Mind. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 8: 1 - 42. Grunbaum, A. (1986) Précis of The foundations of psychoanalysis: A philosophical critique. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 9: 217-284. Harnad, S. (1976) Induction, evolution and accountability. Annals of the N.Y. Academy of Sciences 280: 58-60. Harnad, S. (1982a) Neoconstructivism: A unifying theme for the cognitive sciences. In T. Simon & R. Scholes, R. (Eds.) Language, mind and brain. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Harnad, S. (1982b) Metaphor and mental duality. In T. Simon & R. Scholes, R. (Eds.) Language, mind and brain. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Harnad, S. (1982c) Consciousness: An afterthought. Cognition and Brain Theory 5: 29 - 47. Harnad, S. (1984) What are the scope and limits of radical behaviorist theory? Behavioral and Brain Sciences 7: 720 - 721. Harnad, S. R., Steklis, H.D. & Lancaster, J. (eds.) (1976) Origins and Evolution of Language and Speech. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 280. Kornhuber, H. H. (1978) A reconsideration of the brain-mind problem. In: Buser & Rougeul-Buser (1978, 319 - 334). Kornhuber, H. H. (1984) Attention, readiness for action, and the stages of voluntary decision: Some electrophysiological correlates in man. Experimental Brain Research supp. 9: 420-429. Libet, B. (1978) Neuronal vs. subjective timing for a conscious sensory experience. In: Buser & Rougeul-Buser (1978, 69 - 82). Libet, B. (1985) Unconscious cerebral initiative and the role of conscious will in voluntary action. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 8: 529-566. MacKay, D. M. (1978) What determines my choice? In: Buser & Rougeul- Buser (1978, 335 - 346). McClelland, J.L., Rumelhart, D. E., and the PDP Research Group (1986) Popper, K. R., & Eccles, J. C. (1977) The self and its brain. Heidelberg: Springer, 1977. Rumelhart, D. E., McClelland, J.L., and the PDP Research Group (1986) Parallel distributed processing: Explorations in the microstructure of cognition, Volume 2. Cambridge MA: MIT/Bradford. Skinner, B. F. (1984b) Reply to Harnad. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 7: 721-724. Steklis, H. D. & Harnad, S. R. (1976) From hand to mouth: Some critical stages in the evolution of language. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 280: 445-455. von Neumann, J. (1954) The computer and the brain. New Haven: Yale University Press. citation: Harnad, Stevan (1982) Consciousness: An afterthought. [Journal (Paginated)] document_url: http://cogprints.org/1570/1/harnad82.consciousness.html