Cite this article as:

Pronin K. V. The role of consciousness in evolutionary history: An epiphenomenon or a decisive adaptive factor in natural selection. Izvestiya of Saratov University. Philosophy. Psychology. Pedagogy, 2022, vol. 22, iss. 1, pp. 45-49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18500/1819-7671-2022-22-1-45-49

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0).

Heading:

Philosophy

UDC:

159.9.01

Language:

Russian

The role of consciousness in evolutionary history: An epiphenomenon or a decisive adaptive factor in natural selection

The article is devoted to the analysis of the opinion widespread in the scientifi c community about the decisive adaptive role of consciousness in the process of natural selection. Hypotheses about the functions of consciousness as a central element of the information processing mechanism and the development of a control eff ect on the behavior of the organism are considered. The conclusion is formulated according to which such functions traditionally ascribed to consciousness, such as coordinating the work of highly specialized “intellectual” subsystems of the brain and providing them with quick access to informational resources of memory, providing second-order intentions and regulating complex behavior, can be successfully implemented by “automatic brains” carrying out processing information coming from outside and forming the most adequate model of behavior exclusively at the “hardware” level. All this may testify in favor of the hypothesis of the epiphenomenal nature of consciousness and the absence of the infl uence of consciousness on the processes of biological evolution. Certain aspects of this problem are considered from the position of the hypothesis about the possibility of endowing subjective states in general and consciousness, as the most complex form of realizing subjective states, in particular, with the status of a fundamental property of matter, irreducible to any of the already known properties.

Author:

Pronin

Konstantin

Vladimirovich

Saratov Military Order of Zhukov Red Bannerorder Institute of National Guard Troops of the Russian Federation

158, Moskovskaya Str., Saratov, 410023, Russia

rehndjytuen@mail.ru

Key words:

difficult problem of consciousness, adaptive functions, natural selection, epiphenomenon, complex behavior

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18500/1819-7671-2022-22-1-45-49

Literature

Dennett Daniel C. Kinds of Minds: Towards an Understanding of Consciousness. New York, Basic Books, 1997. 192 p. (Russ. ed.: Dennet Daniel C. Vidy psikhiki: na puti k ponimaniyu soznaniya. Moscow, Ideya-Press Publ., 2004. 184 p.).
Penrose R. The Emperor’s New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds and The Laws of Physics. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2002. 640 p. (Russ. ed.: Penrouz R. Novyy um korolya: o kompyuterah, myshlenii i zakonah fi ziki. Moscow, Editorial URSS Publ., 2003. 384 p.).
Ramachandran V. S. The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Quest for What Makes Us Human. New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 2011. 357 p. (Russ. ed.: Ramachandran V. S. Mozg rasskazyvaet. Chto delaet nas lyudmi. Moscow, Kar'era Press Publ., 2014. 422 p.).
Chaylahyan L. M. Artifi cial intelligence and the brain (Is it possible to model the brain using artifi cial intelligence?). Novosti iskusstvennogo intellekta [Artifi cial Intelligence News], 2001, no. 4, pp. 29–43. Available at: https://raai.org/library/ainews/getainews.php?2001 (accessed 9 October 2021) (in Russian).
Baars B. A cognitive theory of consciousness. New York, Cambridge University Press, 1988. 448 p. (Russ. ed.: Baars B. Kognitivnaya teoriya soznaniya. Available at: https://www.herzen.spb.ru/uploads/petryarkin/files/Баарс_когнитивная_%20теория_сознания.pdf (accessed 9 October 2021) (in Russian)).
Dennett Daniel C. Conditions of Personhood. Logos [Logos], 2003, no. 2 (37), pp. 135‒153 (in Russian).
Pechenkova E. V., Falikman M. V. Consciousness and the brain: cognitive science on both sides of the psychophysical problem. In: Spiridonov V. F., ed. Kognitivnaya psikhologiya: fenomeny i problemy [Cognitive Psychology: Phenomena and Problems]. Moscow, Lenand Publ., 2014, pp. 229–255 (in Russian).
Chalmers D. The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996. 432 p. (Russ. ed.: Chalmers D. Soznayushchiy um: v poiskakh fundamentalnoy teorii. Moscow, URSS Publ., Knizhnyy dom “Librokom” Publ., 2013. 512 p.).
Ivanov E. M. Deadlocks of naturalistic theories of mind and the way out. Filosofskaya mysl (Philosophical Thought), 2019, no. 6, pp. 13–38. Available at: https://nbpublish.com/library_read_article.php?id=30360 (accessed 5 November 2021) (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.25136/2409-8728.2019.6.30360

Journal issue:

Izv. Sarat. Univ. Philosophy. Psychology. Pedagogy, 2022, vol. 22, iss. 1,

Status:

не проверено

Full Text (PDF):

filosofiya_2022_1-45-49.pdf

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