ON THE COEVOLUTION OF COGNITION AND CONSCIOUSNESS

In this article it is argued that an evolutionary perspective leads to the view that adaptation and learning is a widespread and old propert y of living organisms, even as old as life itself. Cognition, defined as knowledge processing mediated by a centralised nervous system, is s uggested mainly to be based on the same principles as non-neural adapt ive processes. The emergence of conscious cognition, however, is seen as a major transition in the evolution of life, although it appears in different degrees and at various stages in evolution. Both cognition and consciousness depend on the organisation and complexity of the org anism, primarily with regard to the nervous system. Computational and neurophysiological approaches are discussed, in particular some experi mental attempts to determine anatomical, physiological and physical co rrelates to consciousness. It is argued that an evolutionary perspecti ve suggests an interactionistic solution to the mind-brain problem, i. e. the question of subjective experience. In an interactionistic persp ective consciousness can be understandable as a biological phenomenon. It can be regarded as a driving force in evolution, amplifying and im proving the adaptive and cognitive processes of an organism. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.