Fitch, W Tecumseh and Allen, Colin and Roskies, Adina (2025) The Evolutionary Functions of Consciousness. [Preprint]
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Abstract
Why did consciousness evolve? Assuming that some species (e.g. humans) have consciousness and others
(e.g. oak trees or sponges) don’t, what problem(s) did consciousness evolve to solve? From a biological
and evolutionary viewpoint, and regardless of which species have consciousness (or to what degree), this
question of the adaptive function(s) of consciousness is central. Nonetheless, the growing discipline of
consciousness studies has not yet fully engaged with this issue. The current special issue aims to help fill
this important gap in the literature with contributions from 28 noted scholars in the field. In this
introduction we discuss basic terminological issues, provide a broad theoretical framework, consider some
of the many possible answers to this central question, and offer brief summaries of the included papers.
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