ABSTRACT
Philosophers who inquire about whether consciousness is an adaptation often have a slightly different question in their sights. This chapter shows how nociceptors, specialized receptors involved in the pain sensory system, seem to have evolved; and discusses what sorts of evidence are required for showing that nociception is an adaptation. One approach would be to formulate a theory of consciousness, or at least a model of the correlates of consciousness, that would allow us to seek evidence for its presence and frequency in ancestral populations. Pain is perhaps a fundamental piece of the puzzle of consciousness that must be properly placed if we are to determine whether and why consciousness itself evolved. Elisabeth Lloyd (2005) argues that several lines of evidence are required in demonstrating that a trait is an adaptation. Nociception may occur in animals that lack the full-blooded subjective experience of pain that we humans find so compelling.
