?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Can+Evolutionary+Theory+Explain+the+Existence+of+Consciousness%3F+A+Review+of+Humphrey%2C+N.+(2010)+Soul+Dust%3A+The+Magic+of+Consciousness.+London%3A+Quercus%2C+ISBN+9781849162371+&rft.creator=Velmans%2C+Prof+Max&rft.subject=Evolution&rft.subject=Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Evolutionary+Psychology&rft.subject=Metaphysics&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Mind&rft.description=This+review+summarises+why+it+is+difficult+for+Darwinian+evolutionary+theory+to+explain+the+existence+and+function+of+consciousness.+It+then+evaluates+whether+Humphrey's+book+Soul+Dust+overcomes+these+problems.++According+to+Humphrey%2C+consciousness+is+an+illusion+constructed+by+the+brain+to+enhance+reproductive+fitness+by+motivating+creatures+that+have+it+to+stay+alive.+Although+the+review+entirely+accepts+that+consciousness+gives+a+first-person+meaning+to+existence%2C+it+concludes+that+Humphrey+does+not+give+a+convincing+account+of+how+this+can+arise+from+random+variations+in+the+genome.+Nor+does+he+demonstrate+how+first-person+experiences+might+enter+into+or+be+reducable+to+third-person+functioning.++The+review+concludes+that+Humphrey's+case+is+unconvincing%2C+and+goes+on+to+suggest+that+an+entirely+different%2C+non-reductive+approach+may+be+required+to+understand+consciousness.+&rft.publisher=Imprint+Academic&rft.date=2011-11&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F7750%2F1%2FHumphrey%2520review%2520final.pdf&rft.identifier=++Velmans%2C+Prof+Max++(2011)+Can+Evolutionary+Theory+Explain+the+Existence+of+Consciousness%3F+A+Review+of+Humphrey%2C+N.+(2010)+Soul+Dust%3A+The+Magic+of+Consciousness.+London%3A+Quercus%2C+ISBN+9781849162371.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F7750%2F