I will argue that, in an interdisciplinary study of consciousness, epistemic structural realism (ESR) can offer a feasible philosophical background for the study of consciousness and its associated neurophysiological phenomena in neuroscience and cognitive science while also taking into account the mathematical structures involved in this type of research. Applying the ESR principles also to the study of the neurophysiological phenomena associated with free will (or rather conscious free choice) and with various alterations of consciousness (AOCs) generated by various pathologies such as epilepsy would add explanatory value to the matter. This interdisciplinary approach would be in tune with Quine's well known idea that philosophy is not simple conceptual analysis but is continuous with science and actually represents an abstract branch of the empirical research. The ESR could thus resonate with scientific models of consciousness such as the global neuronal workspace model (inspired by the global workspace theory-GWT) and the integrated information theory (IIT) model. While structural realism has already been employed in physics or biology, its application as a meta-theory contextualising and relating various scientific findings on consciousness is new indeed. Out of the two variants: ontic structural realism (OSR) and epistemic structural realism (ESR), the latter can be considered more suitable for the study of consciousness and its associated neurophysiological phenomena because it removes the pressure of the still unanswered 'What is consciousness?' ontological question and allows us to concentrate instead on the 'What can we know about consciousness?' epistemological question.

中文翻译：

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意识研究的 ESR 框架


我认为，在意识的跨学科研究中，认知结构实在论（ESR）可以为神经科学和认知科学中意识及其相关神经生理现象的研究提供可行的哲学背景，同时也考虑到其中涉及的数学结构。研究类型。将 ESR 原理也应用于与自由意志（或更确切地说有意识的自由选择）以及与癫痫等各种病理产生的各种意识改变（AOC）相关的神经生理学现象的研究将为该问题增加解释价值。这种跨学科的方法将与蒯因的众所周知的观点相一致，即哲学不是简单的概念分析，而是与科学的连续性，实际上代表了实证研究的一个抽象分支。因此，ESR 可以与意识的科学模型产生共鸣，例如全局神经元工作空间模型（受全局工作空间理论 - GWT 启发）和集成信息论（IIT）模型。虽然结构实在论已经在物理学或生物学中得到应用，但它作为元理论的应用确实是新的，它将各种关于意识的科学发现联系起来。在本体结构实在论（OSR）和认知结构实在论（ESR）这两种变体中，后者被认为更适合研究意识及其相关的神经生理现象，因为它消除了仍然悬而未决的“什么是意识”的压力。 ？本体论问题，让我们能够专注于“关于意识我们能知道什么？”认识论问题。