Posted: Nov 28, 2016 9:06 am
GrahamH wrote:ughaibu knows it exists because ughaibu defines is merely as "some agents on some occasions consciously choosing from among realisable alternatives" (or something like that). Of course that definition is laden with assumptions that ignore the actual issues.
Personally, I only have a problem with the word 'agent'.
ETA: oh and 'consciously choose'.
GrahamH wrote:Indeed various metaphysical scenarios would support such a definition for the supposed "conscious agents" that was not free will by anybody's definition (selection of option experienced as a conscious choice but determined by something else.
The way I think about it, consciousness (and self-consciousness) only emerge from/after brain activity. I think this is fairly settled. They may interact with brain activity thereafter, in all sorts of complex patterns and feedback loops and waves of neuronal activity, but they don't happen of their own accord in the first place. We all experience them booting up every day when we wake up.
As such, how can anything I become consciously aware of (or if you like made consciously aware of by my brain processes) be anything other than commentary, or reporting after the fact?
We all know, of course, that most of the stuff I do is selected without my self-consciousness being involved at all. To pick up on cito's example, I can even drive my car through several road junctions to the supermarket without consciously 'choosing' (or even being aware of) the manoevures if my brain happens to be distracting me towards something else, such as worrying about whether the supermarket will or won't have the blue cheese pizza I want for dinner.