consciousness?

[genkaus]

Then please explain how a physical theory does exclude that possibility.

By studying various aspects of that causal chain - where it comes from and where it goes.

If mental-properties are inert epiphenomena then it doesn’t matter what they are or whether they happen at all.

Even if mental properties were inert epiphenomena, they would still be significant as the very purpose of the study. Do you think that neuroscientists invest thousands of hours studying the brain simply to take a look at some complex and intricate wiring system without actually caring about what it does? Its the other way around. They are more concerned about what it does and how it does it. If mental-properties were irrelevant, then there would be no purpose or application for neuroscience.

So if your consciousness self is an illusion, of what is it an illusion?

Your conscious self is not an illusion - your idea that your conscious self is something distinct and separate from the electrochemical reactions taking place in your brain is an illusion. That is the illusion of your conscious self itself, i.e. that is your view of your conscious self that is not real.

You again ignore chains of mental association, such as: “The intense pain of stubbing made me angry at the table and I remembered the time I kicked a chair and resolved never to do that again, so I choose not to act out my anger.” That statement reports how the sensation of pain started a chain of thoughts linked by meaning and significance.

And the physical chain might go something like "The strong signal received by the pain center, led to a increase in activity in the aggression center as well as triggering the memory center to retrieve similar sense data, i.e memory of similar pain in similar circumstances and record of the results. This data, along with data from aggression center proceeded to decision making center where the comparative interaction resulted in a signal being sent back to the aggression center which led to decrease in activity there."

The different descriptions do not make either of them any less real - nor do they indicate that they are separate chains of causation. In fact, any series of events can be described in multiple ways depending upon what we choose to identify as an entity. I can describe the solar system as distinct planetary bodies circling the sun or I can describe them as a variety of molecules in motion around a central concentration of hydrogen and helium with a significant amount of them being coalesced together. Neither description indicated an illusion and both have meaning and significance depending upon the requirement.