Experience and consciousness
concepts from the outside in
pp. 83-103
in: Andrew O. Martin (ed), Contemporary sensorimotor theory, Berlin, Springer, 2014Abstract
The "feel' of driving a Porsche is unlike that of seeing red (O'Regan, J. Noë, A., 2000). Sensorimotor theory and enactivism hold that looking for mechanisms or something "inside the head' is a mistake in accounting for this. Consciousness does not "lie behind' experience and action, but rather that it is in experience and action. Studying the actions organisms undertake in environments can provide insight into their consciousness and experience. Taking such actions as the locus of study, moreover, can provide greater insight than can studies of mechanisms that drive such interactions. Studying organism-environment interaction in fact provides insight into mechanisms.