The Combination Problem for Panpsychism and its Possible Solutions

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Date
2019-05-03
Authors
Pal, Ritika
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Publisher
University of Guelph
Abstract

In this thesis I will talk about the combination problem of panpsychism and some possible solutions to it. A reductive approach (Dennett 1993, Churchland 2013) toward a theory of consciousness has not yielded satisfactory results because it fails to address the hard problem of consciousness (Chalmers 1995). A nonreductive approach acknowledges the hard problem and claims that consciousness is a property of the universe. Panpsychism is one such nonreductive approach to consciousness. However, a major roadblock for panpsychism is the combination problem. My thesis will discuss the combination problem and two possible solutions to it called the phenomenal bonding relation (Goff 2016) and the Space-Time-Qualia Complex (Skrbina 2011). I conclude that Skrbina’s Space-Time-Qualia Complex answers the combination problem in a much better way than the phenomenal bonding solution and that is why it is an avenue worth exploring.

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Keywords
combination problem, panpsychism
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