Paul Churchland and his Eliminativist and Reductionist Views of Consciousness

Image of Paul Churchland and his spouse Patricia Churchland

The views of consciousness that philosophers take on can be broadly divided into two main types: eliminativist and reductionist viewpoints. Eliminativist viewpoints refer to perspectives that state that our ordinary sense of the mind is very wrong and that certain mental processes do not actually exist. Reductionist viewpoints, meanwhile, attempt to explain the complex phenomenon of consciousness using more fundamental phenomena. Philosopher Paul Churchland, the husband of philosopher Patricia Churchland, who has been covered previously on PhiloMind, holds eliminativist and reductionist views of consciousness.

Churchland defines consciousness as a state of the brain (Alisi, n.d.). He believes that this state is the result of nothing more than neurological processes and that states that are not explained by these processes do not exist (Alisi, n.d.). Churchland explains consciousness in terms of a "recurrent neural network" of the thalamus that processes data about the outside world multiple times and feeds information throughout the cerebral cortex (Churchland, 1995). This process helps the brain form conscious thoughts depicting the world around it.

Churchland's view of consciousness can have important implications for human life. For one, it encourages us to rethink how we think about our minds to have a more hard science-based mindset. Additionally, it indicates that we as humans have an iterative understanding of the world that constantly improves, suggesting that we need to keep learning about our world to make the most of our minds. Overall, Paul Churchland provides interesting perspectives on the biological nature of consciousness.

References:

Churchland, P. M. (1995). The Engine of Reason, the Seat of the Soul: A Philosophical Journey Into the Brain. MIT Press.

Alisi, A. (n.d.). Paul Churchland. The Study of Consciousness, Glimpses into the Life and Work of Great Thinkers in Neuroscience and Philosophy. Retrieved November 8, 2024, from https://integralworld.net/lane210.html