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Galen Strawson is a prominent British philosopher renowned for his extensive work on consciousness, the mind-body problem, and related metaphysical issues. His perspectives have significantly influenced contemporary debates in the philosophy of mind.

Critique of Consciousness Denial

Strawson has been a vocal critic of positions that deny or diminish the reality of consciousness. In his 2018 article, “The Consciousness Deniers,” he challenges thinkers who, influenced by behaviorism and certain interpretations of physicalism, reject the existence of conscious experience. Strawson contends that such denials are fundamentally flawed, as the existence of consciousness is evident through direct experience. He argues that dismissing consciousness leads to incoherent positions within philosophy and psychology.

The New York Review of Books

Advocacy for Realistic Physicalism and Panpsychism

Strawson identifies as a physicalist but proposes a form he terms “realistic physicalism.” He argues that traditional physicalism often overlooks the experiential aspect of reality. To address this, Strawson suggests that experience, or consciousness, is a fundamental component of the physical world. This perspective leads him to endorse panpsychism—the view that consciousness is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of the universe. He posits that all physical entities possess some form of experience, challenging the conventional separation between the mental and the physical.

Mind Matters

Views on the Self and Personal Identity

In his work on personal identity, Strawson challenges the narrative conception of the self—the idea that individuals construct their identities through internalized life stories. He argues that this narrative approach does not universally apply and that some individuals experience life episodically, without a unifying narrative thread. This critique has sparked discussions on the diversity of self-experience and the implications for understanding consciousness and identity.

Engagement with the Hard Problem of Consciousness

Strawson addresses the “hard problem of consciousness,” which concerns explaining how and why physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective experience. He contends that traditional materialist approaches struggle to account for consciousness because they often exclude experiential phenomena from the physical domain. By advocating for a form of physicalism that inherently includes experience, Strawson aims to provide a more coherent framework for understanding consciousness within the natural world.

Conclusion

Galen Strawson’s work offers a profound re-examination of consciousness, challenging prevailing assumptions and advocating for a more inclusive understanding of the physical world that encompasses experiential reality. His arguments for realistic physicalism and panpsychism continue to influence and provoke debate within the philosophy of mind.

Additional reading

The New York Review of Books

The Consciousness Deniers | Galen Strawson – The New York Review of Books

March 12, 2018 — Some thinkers have denied the existence of consciousness: conscious experience, the subjective character of experience, the “what-it-is-like” of experience. The Denial began in the twentieth century and continues today in a few pockets of philosophy and psychology and, now, information technology. It had two main causes: the rise of the behaviorist approach in psychology, and the …

Mind Matters

How a Materialist Philosopher Argued His Way to Panpsychism

May 9, 2021 — In 2018, science writer Robert Wright interviewed physicalist philosopher Galen Strawson (pictured) who, in a long conversation, explained the logical steps by which he — a philosopher who holds that nature is all there is and that everything is physical — also came to believe that consciousness underlies everything. Wright published a long excerpt from the discussion in June 2020, in …

Philosophy Talk

Consciousness Deniers? – Philosophy Talk

May 10, 2018 — The idea that consciousness is an illusion may be a familiar one. Thinkers like Daniel Dennett, Brian Farrell, and Richard Rorty espouse this basic notion: That conscious experience, as a result of co…

The New York Review of Books

The Consciousness Deniers | Galen Strawson – The New York Review of Books

March 12, 2018 — Some thinkers have denied the existence of consciousness: conscious experience, the subjective character of experience, the “what-it-is-like” of experience. The Denial began in the twentieth century a…

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

Consciousness and Its Place in Nature: Does Physicalism Entail …

May 3, 2007 — Strawson refuses to accept Coleman’s proposal to “ditch the subject.” (49) But Strawson’s subjects turn out to be thin — so thin, in fact, that one has to fear for their existence. Subjects of experi…

Purdue University – ICS

The Consciousness Deniers – Purdue University

theory of consciousness: that consciousness is really just pizza. Formally speaking, the Pizza Theory fully allows that consciousness exists, for pizza certainly exists.

Mind Matters

How a Materialist Philosopher Argued His Way to Panpsychism

In 2018, science writer Robert Wright interviewed physicalist philosopher Galen Strawson (pictured) who, in a long conversation, explained the logical steps by which he — a philosopher who holds that…

Google Scholar

‪Galen Strawson‬ – ‪Google Scholar‬

Galen Strawson. University of Texas at Austin. Verified email at austin.utexas.edu – Homepage. Philosophy Philosophy of Mind Metaphysics. Articles Cited by. Title. … Journal of Consciousness Studies…

Academia.edu

Galen Strawson | The University of Texas at Austin – Academia.edu

Repeats and extends discussion in G. Strawson ‘The consciousness myth’ Download. … Galen Strawson argues that the bundle theory does not claim that there are no subjects of experience, as many have…

Academia

(PDF) Consciousness Never Left | Galen Strawson – Academia.edu

galen strawson Consciousness Never Left * * * The Return of Consciousness? A chance conversation recently caused me to look up an article I wrote in 2002. It was a review of David Lodge’s book Conscio…

Wikipedia

Galen Strawson – Wikipedia

Galen John Strawson (born 1952) is a British analytic philosopher and literary critic who works primarily on philosophy of mind, metaphysics (including free will, panpsychism, the mind-body problem, a…

Closer To Truth

Is Consciousness an Illusion? – Galen Strawson – Closer to Truth

Topic Guide Cosmos, Consciousness, Meaning: Join us as we explore the fundamental questions of existence. Cosmos Explore cosmology, physics, and the fundamentals of existence; … Galen Strawson works…

JSTOR

Consciousness and its Place in Nature: Does Physicalism Entail … – JSTOR

with Strawson’s reply to these responses. This “real physicalism” is, according to Strawson, the only way of dealing with what Chalmers (1996) calls the “hard problem of consciousness.” This problem l…

PhilPapers

Galen Strawson, Consciousness, free will, and the unimportance of …

Gregg Caruso – 2017 – In Gregg D. Caruso (ed.), Ted Honderich on Consciousness, Determinism, and Humanity. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. … Galen