Taking Conceptual Issues Really Seriously: One Next Step for the Cognitive Science of Consciousness

In this letter we focus on the cognitive science of consciousness. The general message is that, while this interdisciplinary area has made much progress in recent years, there is a tendency of downplaying conceptual issues, and therefore underestimating the difficulties of various problems. We briefly focus on a few prominent examples only, due to the space limit, but the general message should be clear: this recent tendency can be problematic for the progress of the consciousness branch of cognitive sciences.

Automated summary

This letter focuses on the cognitive science of consciousness. It highlights that despite significant progress in this interdisciplinary field, there is a tendency to overlook conceptual issues and underestimate the difficulties of various problems. This recent tendency can pose challenges for the progress of consciousness research in cognitive sciences.