Assembling the Tree of Consciousness: A Study of Scientific Methodology for Investigating the Phylogenetic Distribution of Consciousness (Postdoctoral Fellowship)

组装意识树：调查意识系统发育分布的科学方法学研究（博士后奖学金）

• 批准号: 1230829
• 负责人: Colin Allen
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: Indiana University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-15 至 2015-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1230829&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Assembling; Tree; Consciousness; Study; Scientific

IntroductionDespite widespread acceptance of the idea that humans are not the only conscious creatures on the planet, and a resurgence of scientific work and public interest in the topic of animal consciousness, considerable scientific skepticism and divergent public opinion remains concerning what it actually means to say that animals are conscious. This project addresses two related research questions. How is consciousness conceptualized in different research contexts? Can the various and seemingly incompatible conceptualizations of animal consciousness be integrated or related in an evidence-based way? Intellectual MeritThe project will use the methods of conceptual and logical analysis of scientific and philosophical positions to generate a series of research publications on this topic, and will initiate an "Online Tree of Consciousness" to serve as an open database for research, education, ethics, and policy in this area. The project will provide a clear characterization of existing concepts and methods from multiple disciplines. The goal is to integrate these into a single domain of discourse organized around phylogenetic relationships among the species that have been studied. This will allow different sorts of evidence (behavioral, neurophysiological, evolutionary, etc.) to be evaluated in their phylogenetic context, and should aid in the discovery of patterns in existing data as well as helping to identify systematically understudied areas. Potential Broader ImpactsThe project is expected to yield general recommendations and guidelines for future scientific work, greater conceptual clarity about the range of ideas about animal consciousness and how to study it, improved accessibility for policymakers and ethicists concerned with animal welfare to the latest research on consciousness, better access for social scientists to data relevant to the historical and sociological patterns of animal consciousness research, and easy access for educators looking to challenge students with one of the hardest and most fascinating conceptual problems facing any science.

尽管人类不是地球上唯一有意识的生物这一观点被广泛接受，科学工作和公众对动物意识的兴趣也在复苏，但关于动物有意识的实际含义，仍然存在相当大的科学怀疑和不同的公众舆论。这个项目涉及两个相关的研究问题。在不同的研究背景下，意识是如何概念化的？动物意识的各种看似不相容的概念化可以以基于证据的方式整合或关联吗？该项目将使用对科学和哲学立场进行概念和逻辑分析的方法，就这一主题出版一系列研究出版物，并将启动一个“在线意识树”，作为这一领域研究、教育、伦理和政策的开放数据库。该项目将明确描述多个学科的现有概念和方法。我们的目标是将这些整合到一个单一的话语领域，围绕已研究的物种之间的系统发育关系组织起来。这将允许不同种类的证据（行为，神经生理学，进化等）。在它们的系统发育背景下进行评估，并应有助于发现现有数据中的模式，以及帮助系统地确定研究不足的领域。潜在的更广泛的影响该项目预计将产生一般性建议和指导方针，为未来的科学工作，更清晰的概念范围内的想法关于动物意识和如何研究它，改善政策制定者和伦理学家关注动物福利的最新研究意识，让社会科学家更好地获得与动物意识研究的历史和社会学模式相关的数据，对于希望挑战学生的教育工作者来说，这是任何科学所面临的最困难和最迷人的概念问题之一。