Abstract

Recent advances in our understanding of complex dynamical systems may be of interest to philosophers seeking the best metaphysical grounds for understanding the qualitative character of subjective experience (qualia). In this thesis I will propose that qualia are not specifically brain processes, but are instead best thought of as world processes that can be characterized as distributed self-organizing networks of Whiteheadian actual entities. On this Whiteheadian model, different aspects of a quale that a subject experiences as a specific shade of blue, might be contributed by entities that are, contemporaneously, also contributing other aspects of other qualia to other subjects widely distributed throughout time and space. Cellular automata and network models will be used to help clarify this proposal.