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The question is not “are they conscious?” but “what could they be conscious of?”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 September 2026

Chris Fields Open the ORCID record for Chris Fields [Opens in a new window]  and
James Glazebrook Open the ORCID record for James Glazebrook [Opens in a new window]
Chris Fields*
Affiliation:
Allen Discovery Center, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA fieldsres@gmail.com
James Glazebrook
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, USA jfglazebrook@eiu.edu
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

We argue that by focusing on an unanswerable ontological question, both computational functionalism and biological naturalism miss the empirical question of scientific and practical interest: what are systems of some kind capable of experiencing?

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 49 , 2026 , e334
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press

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