Consciousness" in the Annual Review of Neuroscience, John Searle questions the philosophical and epistemological accuracy of the paradigm that has defined the language and study of consciousness for centuries. His contention is that the study of consciousness must be guided by the idea that consciousness is not the "airy-fairy and touch-feely" phenomenon that many assume it to be (558), but rather is a concrete result of certain biological processes in the brain known as neurological correlates of conscious state (NCCs). While his argument is soundly presented and consistent with itself, I believe that Searle avoids certain questions and considerations of consciousness in order to maintain the assumption at the center of his argument.

Critical to his theory is the concept of subjectivity. Consciousness, Searles argues, only exists subjectively in that it relies on the existence of a subject as part of its definition. This is somewhat related to the famous...
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