Metaphenomenology and the Neuroscience of Consciousness

Abstract

Finding neural correlates of consciousness requires understanding the content of consciousness, which requires phenomenology, the first-person study of consciousness. Because phenomenology has long been mired in recalcitrant disagreement, researchers should seek to better understand the semantic, epistemological, psychological, and metaphysical foundations of phenomenology. Thus this dissertation proposes a field of metaphenomenological inquiry. Although much work in phenomenology deals with metaphenomenological issues, there has not been a systematic treatment of metaphenomenological issues as such. This dissertation explores a range of questions at the foundations of phenomenology, and it argues for answers that paint an integrated, mutually-reinforcing portrait of the field.