The extended dual-aspect monism framework: an attempt to solve the hard problem

Abstract

Abstract: In prior work, we reported the followings: (i) There are about forty meanings attributed to the term consciousness. They were identified and categorized according to whether they were principally about function or about experience. (ii) The frameworks for consciousness that are based on materialism, idealism, and dualism have serious problems. Therefore, an extended dual-aspect monism (eDAM) framework was proposed for consciousness, where (a) the problematic materialism/panpsychism based integrated information theory (IIT) was interpreted and (b) the inseparability between physical and non-physical aspect holds because none of the empirical fMRI/EEG data shows separability between aspects. This has the least number of problems compared to all other frameworks. It required a novel feature that the potentiality of primary irreducible subjective experiences co-exists with its physical aspect in nature. This missing information in science is provided by the eDAM, which addresses the hard problem of consciousness successfully, which is elaborated in detail in this article.