The Phylogenetic Origin and Function of Consciousness

• Grant number: 24/09505-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: July 01, 2025
• End date: June 30, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Osvaldo Frota Pessoa Junior
• Grantee: Diogo Fernando Massmann
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The functional problem of consciousness is the question of what the function of consciousness is, namely, first, in the question of "why" consciousness arose in non-human animals and human animals in an evolutionary process, and then, whether it was relevant for the organisms that possessed it. The working hypothesis is that consciousness coordinates the activity of translating the organism's internal states into external states, in which consciousness recruits working memory and the cognitive-computational system to the task. The methodology consists, first, the phylogenetic study between human and non-human animals (primates, birds, and cephalopods) in tasks that require conscious activity, then, the research on the neural correlates of conscious contents and states, finally, the analysis of the conceptual definitions of consciousness applied in phylogenetic and correlational studies. Our objective is to present a conceptual definition of the function of consciousness that can become an operational definition. Specifically, the aim is: (i) to achieve a clear and accessible formulation of the problem of the function of consciousness; (ii) to detail the relevant characteristics for consciousness to perform its function; (iii) to search for homologies and comparative phylogenetic differences between human and non-human animals about the relevant characteristics of consciousness. It is expected that our hypothesis becomes consistent with the guiding references of current research, serving as a typical operational definition of applied research. Like all research in neurophilosophy, this work is in a pre-paradigmatic phase of improvements that, if it passes the critical assessment, can take a step forward and try approximations and submission to applied tests.