Neurophilosophy

Consciousness outside a human body?

We are all aware that we perceive, think, experience, sense or simply said having a consciousness.   However can we be hundred procent sure that all of these aren't just deception? Can we be sure that we aren't deceiving ourselves? Perhaps our brains are kept in a jar or vat where a computer machine is giving us all these perceptions, senses and experience? If this is true, can we say that the brain in a vat can have consciousness? According to Philosophers Thompson&Cosmelli and Alva Noe in their essays on consciousness and 'the brain in a vat' ( Brain in a vat or body in a world and Out of our heads, New York 2009.) it is not possible having a consciousness outside the human body without its interaction with the environment. But what if there is a vat like a human body?

'The brain in a vat' hypothesis
Philosopher Hilary Putnam, came up with a thought-experiment called 'The brain in a vat', to let us think about the reality, knowledge thruth and consciousness. In this essay we will concentrate on the role of consciousness in relation to the experiment.
'The brain in a vat' experiment is an experiment where a scientist puts a brain in a jar or vat of liquid with nutrients, connecting the neurons of the brain with a computer, whereby the computer is simulating a visual reality. The brain receives visual pictures and sound   from the computer. Normally when we move in those pictures, our brain gives signals to our muscles, instead our brain gives signals to the computer processing these signals into simulation. Therefore there would hardly be no difference between a embodied brain in a real environment and brain in a vat because both experiences the same. Although it seems a little bit as science-fiction it has attracted many attention of other philosophers bringing their arguments to this experiment based on consciousness like Evan Thompson & Diego Cosmelli and Alva Noe.

Consciousness according to Alva Noe...