> If the brain is not the seat of consciousness and the self is instead the result of some metaphysical process that's external to the body,
This seems backwards to me. It is the self that is the result of processes from the interaction between consciousness and the body (including the brain).
Analogy: the sea does not create the matter of the stone it hits against on the shore, that is already present. But it is the interaction between the sea and the rock that shapes the rock, and in doing so it can create a pattern that looks like a face.
This seems backwards to me. It is the self that is the result of processes from the interaction between consciousness and the body (including the brain).
Analogy: the sea does not create the matter of the stone it hits against on the shore, that is already present. But it is the interaction between the sea and the rock that shapes the rock, and in doing so it can create a pattern that looks like a face.