How Do We Have Feelings?

Irving C. Statler

doi:10.4236/jbbs.2015.511045

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Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science > Vol.5 No.11, October 2015

How Do We Have Feelings? ()

Irving C. Statler

Human Factors Research Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/jbbs.2015.511045 PDF HTML XML 2,152 Downloads 2,754 Views Citations

Abstract

For centuries, the question of how a physical structure (the brain) generates the subjective feeling of consciousness has plagued neuroscientists, physiologists, psychologists, linguists, and philosophers. This has become known as the “hard problem of consciousness” and has been the subject of many publications. Although lots of answers have been proposed, none has been completely satisfactory. The focus of most of these studies has been on the neuronal structures and activities. Experiential consciousness emerges from neural processes, but it has not been explained with models that have been based solely on the electro-mechanical aspects of the processes. There must be some other dynamic features of neuronal activity to explain the emergence of experiential consciousness. I argue that a likely answer to the dilemma resides in the added dimension of the neurochemistry of the brain that has, so far, received little attention.

Keywords

Experiential Consciousness, Feelings, Mind-Body Problem, Hard Problem of Consciousness, Neuropharmacology

Share and Cite:

Statler, I. (2015) How Do We Have Feelings?. Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science, 5, 471-477. doi: 10.4236/jbbs.2015.511045.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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