Methodological reductionism or methodological dualism? In search of a middle ground

TY - JOUR

T1 - Methodological reductionism or methodological dualism? In search of a middle ground

AU - Overgaard, Morten

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2023.

PY - 2025/4

Y1 - 2025/4

N2 - The contrasts between so-called objective and subjective measures of consciousness have been a dominating topic of discussion for decades. The debate has classically been dominated by two positions – that subjective measures may be completely or partially reduced to objective measures, and, alternatively that they must exist in parallel. I argue that many problems relate to subjective reports as they can be imprecise and vulnerable to a number of potential confounding factors. However, I also argue that despite the fact that subjective reports are fallible, all objective measures are derived from subjective measures, and, thus, will never under normal circumstances be more correct. I propose that the best and possibly only realistic way forward is a specific version of a “middle ground”: to attempt to improve subjective reports in a collaboration with objective research methods.

AB - The contrasts between so-called objective and subjective measures of consciousness have been a dominating topic of discussion for decades. The debate has classically been dominated by two positions – that subjective measures may be completely or partially reduced to objective measures, and, alternatively that they must exist in parallel. I argue that many problems relate to subjective reports as they can be imprecise and vulnerable to a number of potential confounding factors. However, I also argue that despite the fact that subjective reports are fallible, all objective measures are derived from subjective measures, and, thus, will never under normal circumstances be more correct. I propose that the best and possibly only realistic way forward is a specific version of a “middle ground”: to attempt to improve subjective reports in a collaboration with objective research methods.

KW - Consciousness

KW - Introspection

KW - Methodology

KW - Objective methods

KW - Subjective methods

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105001064364&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s11097-023-09939-6

DO - 10.1007/s11097-023-09939-6

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:105001064364

SN - 1568-7759

VL - 24

SP - 345

EP - 358

JO - Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences

JF - Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences

IS - 2

ER -