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Philosophy of Sciences

2019 year, number 2

CONSCIOUSNESS AS VIRTUAL REALITY: BASIC IDEAS OF THOMAS METZINGER'S THEORY

Evgeniy Alekseevich Bezlepkin
Institute of Philosophy and Law, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
Keywords: сознание, самосознание, виртуальная реальность, эго, Метцингер, consciousness, self-consciousness, virtual reality, ego, Metzinger

Abstract

The article analyzes the theory of consciousness as virtual reality proposed by T. Metzinger. We highlight the main aspects of the theory and show its differences from other modern theories of consciousness. We analyze Metzinger's assumption of a minimum set of structures necessary for the emergence of consciousness, i.e. his concept of "minimum consciousness". Also, we show the relation of the considered theory to the issues of the ontological status of subjective experience and self-consciousness, as well as to the key philosophical issues, namely the existence of the external world, the ontological status of consciousness, the existence of free will, the possibility of creating artificial consciousness and self-consciousness.