Abstract: 

      The problem of consciousness has been traditionally dealt by Philosophy, but its importance in explaining mental phenomena has made it a subject matter for other sciences that emerged later. Each philosopher and scientist has followed his own method in defining it but arriving at a universal agreement on its definition has become difficult task. On the one hand, idealists put all their efforts into explaining consciousness as a separate entity, without stepping away from their traditional path, because they believe that thinking and experience are not the properties of the physical entity. On the other hand, the scientific world puts its efforts into reducing consciousness to electrical and neurochemical processes of the brain because it believes that the brain works like a biologically programmed computer. To have a differing opinion is not at all problematic because it is proven again and again, especially in the scientific world, that what is once true can be proven false later. However, the grounds on which a theory was propounded and the extent to which those grounds lead to certain conclusions that can be accepted are more important. In this view whether consciousness can be accounted for in physical terms is the central problem of this study.

About the speaker:

      Dr Sunkanna is a Post Doctoral Fellow at Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay.