Knowledge Tree
Ned Block
Also known as: Ned Block
Facts (20)
Sources
Consciousness (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Fall 2025 ... plato.stanford.edu Jun 18, 2004 5 facts
claimNed Block (1995) defines access consciousness as a state where a mental state is conscious based on its availability to interact with other states and the access one has to its content, rather than its qualitative feel.
perspectiveVictor Lamme (2006) and Ned Block (2007) argue that local recurrent activity between higher and lower areas within the sensory cortex is sufficient for phenomenal consciousness, even in the absence of verbal reportability or other indicators of access consciousness.
perspectiveCritics of functionalism, including Ned Block (1980a, 1980b), Joseph Levine (1983), and David Chalmers (1996), argue that consciousness cannot be adequately explained solely in functional terms.
claimNed Block and David Chalmers have argued that consciousness is non-functional in nature, which makes it resistant to standard scientific methods that explain complex properties in terms of physically realized functional conditions.
claimAccording to functionalism, a state or process is classified as a specific mental or conscious type based on the functional role it performs within a suitably organized system, as described by Ned Block in 1980.
Hard problem of consciousness - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 4 facts
claimNed Block posits the existence of a "Harder Problem of Consciousness," which arises from the possibility that different physical and functional neurological systems could potentially have phenomenal overlap.
referenceNed Block and Robert Stalnaker published the paper 'Conceptual Analysis, Dualism, and the Explanatory Gap' in The Philosophical Review in 1999.
perspectiveNed Block and Robert Stalnaker argue that while facts about conscious experience cannot be deduced from physiological facts, similar gaps of knowledge exist in other natural cases, such as the distinction between water and H2O.
claimPhilosophers Joseph Levine, Colin McGinn, and Ned Block, along with cognitive neuroscientists Francisco Varela, Giulio Tononi, and Christof Koch, accept the existence of the hard problem of consciousness.
Consciousness and Cognitive Sciences journal-psychoanalysis.eu 2 facts
AI Sessions #9: The Case Against AI Consciousness (with Anil Seth) conspicuouscognition.com Feb 17, 2026 2 facts
What a Contest of Consciousness Theories Really Proved quantamagazine.org Aug 24, 2023 2 facts
perspectiveNed Block noted that findings supporting back-of-the-brain theories of consciousness do not specifically provide support for Integrated Information Theory (IIT).
claimThe adversarial collaboration could not develop predictions distinct enough to separate Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT) from Higher-Order Theories (HOTs), resulting in a separate collaboration between Hakwan Lau and Ned Block to address HOTs.
Self-Consciousness - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy plato.stanford.edu Jul 13, 2017 1 fact
claimCritics of higher-order theories of consciousness, such as Alex Byrne (1997) and Ned Block (2011), raise concerns regarding the possibility of objectless and non-veridical higher-order states.
The function(s) of consciousness: an evolutionary perspective frontiersin.org Nov 25, 2024 1 fact
claimNed Block (2009) has questioned the success of Global Workspace Theory in addressing the 'hard problem' of consciousness and related foundational issues.
Hard Problem of Consciousness | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy iep.utm.edu 1 fact
referenceThe Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on the Hard Problem of Consciousness lists Ned Block's 2002 paper 'The Harder Problem of Consciousness' (published in The Journal of Philosophy, XCIX, 8, 391-425) as a reference.
4.5 Consciousness – Cognitive Psychology nmoer.pressbooks.pub 1 fact
claimNed Block holds a reductionist (physical) approach to the debate regarding the relationship between consciousness and the physical universe.
Quantum Theory of Consciousness - Scirp.org. scirp.org 1 fact
referenceThe Quantum Theory of Consciousness paper cites Güzeldere, G., Block, N., Flanagan, O. and Güzeldere, G. (1997) 'The Nature of Consciousness: Philosophical Debates' (MIT Press, Cambridge) as a reference.