A Dialectical Approach to the Question of Consciousness

Cognitive neuroscience is a multidisciplinary field at the intersection of neurophysiology, psychology and philosophy, among others. An important objective of cognitive neuroscience is to explain the nature of conscious experience. Its associated research programme is carried out in two directions: from neural correlates to phenomenal experience, and from phenomenal experience to the substrate. Each paradigm produces a body of work, but neither seems to be able to cross over to the other side. We think that the problem is not the complexity of biological consciousness itself, but the inadequacy of the main analytical tool. Formal logic assumes linear causality, which is too simplistic for describing our evolving biological system. Here we present the result of a dialectical approach to the problem of consciousness: Hegelian dialectics conditionally utilitizes contradiction (rather than rejecting it), which allows for multi-vector causality. Surprisingly, the approach led to a comprehensive account of consciousness, including phenomenality and ontology. We show that consciousness emerges in vertebrate evolution as a synthesis of cellular pre-adaptations and the process of encephalization, and constitutes a new mode of behavioral control. Proven correct, our results may be important for future research in cognitive neuroscience.