Consciousness and the ''causal paradox'' - Response

Viewed from a first-person perspective, consciousness appears to be necessary for complex, novel human activity. Viewed from a third-person perspective, however, consciousness appears to play no role in the activity of brains - producing a ''causal paradox.'' To resolve this paradox one needs to distinguish consciousness of processing from consciousness accompanying processing or causing processing. Accounts of consciousness/brain causal interactions switch between first- and third-person perspectives. However, epistemically, the differences between first- and third-person access are fundamental. First- and third-person accounts are complementary and mutually irreducible.