On the primacy and irreducible nature of first-person versus third-person information [version 3; referees: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]

Abstract

In this essay, we will support the claim that at the current level of scientific advancement a) some first-person accounts cannot be reduced to their third-person neural and psychophysiological correlates and b) that these first-person accounts are the only information to reckon when it is necessary to analyse qualia contents. Consequently, for many phenomena, first-person accounts are the only reliable source of information available and the knowledge of their neural and psychophysical correlates don’t offer any additional information about them.

Keywords

• Cognitive Neuroscience