TEM: The Enlarged Mind

Why we are conscious?
What will the world be without consciousness?

There are two possible approaches to the problem o consciousness. The first is to try to understand what is consciousness, given what we believe is true independently of consciousness itself. This is  a very scientific approach. The second requires a more deeper challenge to all our previous knowledge about world as well as about consciousness. It is possible that we will have to change some of our basic assumptions about reality in order to discover what consciousness is. This is a more philosophical approach of course. Is it possible to pursue a road that will satisfy both the empirical scientist and the theoretical thinker? We believe it is possible and this is a brief (and incomplete) outline of some of our goals and rationales.

Consciousness is not an easy target and, to pursue it, several strategies can be more helpful than just one single line of research. We can summarize our position by stating that, up to know, there seems to be non compatible way of defining consciousness while remaining inside the physicalist objectivist framework of thought. Unfortunately consciousness is an empirical fact, the first empirical fact in a sense, and for this very reason it cannot be denied. In other words, if science cannot explain consciousness, science has to be modified in order to be able to explain it. There is not other meaningful way to proceed.