Knowledge Tree
sensation
Also known as: sensations
Facts (36)
Sources
Resolving the evolutionary paradox of consciousness link.springer.com Apr 1, 2024 20 facts
claimSensations that are not reliably paired with fitness rewards or threats remain largely unvalenced.
perspectiveSiri Hustvedt Mørch asserts that the 'phenomenal powers' perspective is the only avenue for intelligibly explaining the adaptive-seeming correlations between sensations and fitness contingencies.
claimSensational associative learning posits that pairing specific sensations with unconditioned stimuli, such as fitness rewards or threats, causes those sensations to be interpreted as good or bad, respectively.
perspectiveRussellian panpsychism posits that consciousness is intrinsic, whereas the sensational associative learning view posits that an overall experience depends on both the intrinsic nature of a sensation and its interpretation.
perspectiveThe 'phenomenal powers' perspective, proposed by Siri Hustvedt Mørch in 2017, argues that sensations like pain and pleasure possess intrinsic phenomenal powers that explain why they are associated with fitness threats and rewards.
referenceThe phenomenal powers view, as proposed by Mørch (2017), attempts to explain adaptive-seeming correlations by positing that sensations have intrinsic causal powers where unpleasant sensations necessitate avoidance and pleasant sensations necessitate approach.
claimThe phenomenal powers view cannot explain adaptive-seeming correlations between sensations and evolutionary fitness via adaptation due to major problems identified by the author.
claimEvolutionary fitness threats and rewards are associated with subjectively unpleasant and pleasant sensations, respectively.
measurementThe probability of 13 specific sensations aligning with fitness outcomes by chance, assuming equal probability for pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral valence, is 1 in 1,594,323.
perspectiveThe author proposes a naturalistic explanation for adaptive-seeming correlations that involves implicit learning of associations between sensations and fitness-relevant stimuli.
claimThe author of 'Resolving the evolutionary paradox of consciousness' concludes that Mørch's (2017) phenomenal powers view cannot explain the adaptive-seeming correlations between sensations and fitness.
claimNeural processes correlate with sensations of particular characters, though these sensations possess no intrinsic causal power or intrinsic valence.
claimTheorists have argued that adaptation cannot explain 'cognitive fine-tuning' or 'psychophysical harmony', which refer to adaptive-seeming correlations between sensations and fitness-relevant stimuli.
claimThe 'sensational associative learning' explanation posits that an overall experience is composed of both a raw sensation and the interpretation of that sensation, meaning the same sensation can feel different depending on how it is interpreted.
perspectiveThe author proposes 'sensational associative learning' as a naturalistic, non-adaptive explanation for why sensations align with evolutionarily adaptive outcomes.
claimThe difficulties with the phenomenal powers view undermine the working explanation of adaptive-seeming correlations between sensations and fitness-relevant behaviors.
perspectiveThe author assumes that sensations are defined by their subjective character rather than by the behavioral effects of associated neural events.
claimThe author of 'Resolving the evolutionary paradox of consciousness' asserts that none of the existing metaphysical perspectives on consciousness—including physicalism, dualism, and panpsychism—can easily explain the adaptive-seeming correlations between sensations and fitness via natural selection.
perspectiveThe author of 'Resolving the evolutionary paradox of consciousness' concludes that physicalism, dualism, and panpsychism do not explain adaptive-seeming correlations between sensations and evolutionary fitness via adaptation.
claimThe phenomenal powers view asserts that all sensations are intrinsically motivational and causal.
Human body systems: Overview, anatomy, functions | Kenhub kenhub.com 3 facts
claimThe nervous system initiates and regulates vital body functions, sensation, and body movements.
claimThe integumentary system excretes waste, contains sensory receptors to detect pain, sensation, pressure, and temperature, and provides for vitamin D synthesis.
claimThe nervous system is responsible for the initiation and regulation of vital body functions, sensation, and body movements.
The Hard Problem of Consciousness | Springer Nature Link link.springer.com 3 facts
claimRichard Rorty (1979) argues that while the Greeks viewed the body and soul as separated, they considered sensations to pertain to the body, whereas intellect or reason was viewed as divine and separated from the physical body.
claimConsciousness is considered irreducible because physical accounts of causal chains fail to explain the subjective experience of sensations, such as seeing the color green or moving one's legs.
claimThe modern concept of consciousness was created by lumping together emotions, sensations, and thoughts, a concept that is untranslatable into ancient Greek.
The function(s) of consciousness: an evolutionary perspective frontiersin.org Nov 25, 2024 2 facts
referenceThe evolution of agency, defined as the link between conscious contents and behavior, depended on neurocircuitry innovations that made memory responsive to sensations generated by consciousness, according to Lacalli (2023).
claimSpecies memory is defined as the process where experiences of past generations are encoded in the genome as assembly instructions for brain circuits that evoke specific sensations, known as selector circuits (SCs) or DMCs, as described by Klein et al. (2020).
Self-Consciousness - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy plato.stanford.edu Jul 13, 2017 2 facts
referenceJérôme Dokic authored 'The Sense of Ownership: An Analogy Between Sensation and Action' in 2003, published in the collection 'Joint Attention: Communication and Other Minds'.
claimSydney Shoemaker (1994) argues against the possibility of 'self-blindness,' which is the idea that a rational creature with necessary concepts could be unaware of its own sensations or beliefs.
Moving Forward on the Problem of Consciousness - David Chalmers consc.net 1 fact
referenceJ.J.C. Smart authored the paper 'Sensations and brain processes,' which was published in the Philosophical Review, Volume 68, pages 141-156, in 1959.
Evolutionary psychology - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 1 fact
claimRange shifting is an adaptive sensory mechanism where an organism becomes temporarily more or less sensitive to sensation, such as eyes adjusting to dim or bright ambient light.
Panpsychism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Fall 2015 Edition) plato.stanford.edu May 23, 2001 1 fact
claimMalebranche's occasionalism posits that God must intervene between volition and action, and between stimulus and sensation, to account for the interaction between mind and the physical world.
Dualism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Winter 2016 Edition) plato.stanford.edu Aug 19, 2003 1 fact
claimDuring the classical and mediaeval periods, philosophers viewed the intellect as the aspect of the mind most resistant to materialistic accounts, whereas from the time of René Descartes onward, consciousness—specifically phenomenal consciousness or sensation—became the primary challenge to materialist monism.
Scientists Identify the Evolutionary “Purpose” of Consciousness scitechdaily.com Nov 27, 2025 1 fact
claimReflexive consciousness focuses on the conscious registration of aspects of oneself, including the state of one's body, perception, sensations, thoughts, and actions, rather than solely on perceiving the environment.
Self-Consciousness - Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science oecs.mit.edu Jul 24, 2024 1 fact
claimA challenge to the theory of ownership as a specific sensation (quale) is the difficulty of explaining how a pure sensation can carry information about ownership.