access consciousness

is a form of mental phenomena which do stuff that is useful, explained neurologically in terms of how neurons cause things to happen in the brain and body.

For Chalmers it is important to distinguish two ways of understanding these mental phenomena. The first way is in terms of their roles in a causal-functional economy, of how they 'do stuff' that is useful. This is what Chalmers calls 'access consciousness'. It is 'easy' to explain access consciousness neurologically, because we can make sense of functions in terms of causes, and we know how neurons cause things to happen in the brain and body. The second way of understanding the mental phenomena is in terms of how there is a qualitative 'something it is like' to be the subject of those sensations, beliefs, pains, etc. This is what Chalmers calls 'phenomenal consciousness'. It is 'hard' to explain psychologically in terms of functions or adaptive usefulness.' https://philosophyandpsychology.wordpress.com/tag/chalmers/

access consciousness, n.All

access consciousness