The Research Approach To Consciousness:Reflections On The Perspective Of Physicalism

According to the traditional philosophy of mind,consciousness can only be demonstrated by philosophical thinking and analysis.However,with the development of cognitive neuroscience,consciousness is no longer a research object in the field of philosophy only.Under the background of cognitive neuroscience,the study of consciousness is not a substitute for speculation and analysis,but a way of interdisciplinary study to provide natural science research methods,scientific evidence and argumentation.An ALE meta-analysis on brain imaging of the mathematical gifted has been conducted in this paper,which reveals the characteristics of neural mechanism of the mathematical gifted and further explores the theoretical basis of consciousness about the premise of its neural mechanism.An overview of consciousness research under the background of cognitive neuroscience is provided,mainly about the development of the concept and theory of consciousness.Then the methodological dilemma of consciousness research in cognitive neuroscience is analyzed,which points out that the fundamental reason is the phenomenal character of consciousness.Furthermore,the discussion of the phenomenal character leads to the review of the theoretical value of physicalism and the integration of consciousness research under the framework of physicalism.This paper is divided into five chapters:Chapter one is the introduction part.The basis of the topic selection is introduced in the chapter,concerning the background and the significance of the research.The core theme of this paper-the approach of consciousness research from the perspective of physicalism is pointed out.An overview of the general situation of consciousness research at home and abroad is provided and a brief explanation of the research content,research methods,research significance and innovation are given and the basic structure of this paper is clarified.Chapter two is the empirical research part.10 neuroscience researches on the mathematical gifted using fMRI from January 2001 to October 2019 has been selected.Based on the obtained brain activation coordinate information,an ALE meta-analysis is performed,carrying out two single meta-analysis and one comparative meta-analysis,and the results are presented.In this chapter,the characteristics of neural mechanism,the premise of the neural mechanism and the theoretical basis of consciousness of the mathematical gifted are discussed.Following the discussion in the previous chapter,the development of the concept of consciousness and the theory of consciousness under the background of cognitive neuroscience are further combed in chapter three.According to Searle's classification,the theory can be divided into two categories:the building block model and the unified field model.Based on the above analysis,the methodological dilemma of consciousness research under the background of cognitive neuroscience are pointed out.And the fundamental cause of this dilemma,namely,the phenomenal character of consciousness is analyzed.In the fourth chapter,the basic point of physicalism has been stated at the beginning,and then demonstrate its irreplaceable theoretical value in "study consciousness scientifically ".Then from the theoretical dilemmas and problems of physicalism,the discussion of the phenomenal character and the methodological dilemmas of physicalism has been discussed.From this point of view,the fusion approach of future consciousness research is finally put forwardThe last chapter is composed of two parts:summary and prospect.Firstly,the purpose and significance of this paper are reviewed and the research content are summarized according with the structure and argumentation.Then the shortcomings of the research are pointed out and the prospect of the possible future direction of consciousness research is put forward in the meantime.It is concluded that in the context of cognitive neuroscience,it's inevitable to face the methodology dilemma of physicalism and the limitations brought by physicalist ontology while attempting to expound consciousness in the study of consciousness.It is unscientific to completely deny the research of consciousness under the framework of physicalism,and is also unreasonable to abandon the rational speculation and philosophical analysis of consciousness.Therefore,adhering to the scientific research method of physicalism properly and embracing the integration approach of philosophical thinking and analysis is not only the recognition of consciousness research under the framework of physicalism,but also the response to the methodological dilemma of incompleteness of physicalism.The fusion research approach of cognitive neuroscience and philosophy may be a new way of consciousness research in the current generation.