McGinn Proposes Pain Origin Of Consciousness

Philosopher Colin McGinn posted an essay arguing that knowledge evolved and that pain was the first form of consciousness. An evolutionary biologist critiques McGinn’s claims, arguing knowledge (justified true belief) is acquired and not genetically inherited, while consciousness—not knowledge—evolves, and there is no evidence that pain was the initial quale. The critic warns McGinn's conflation of terms undermines the proposed evolutionary epistemic framework.