I think placeholder definitions are the way to go: one defines a concept that is acknowledged not to be the target and works with it. So for the purposes of di

I think placeholder definitions are the way to go: one defines a concept that is acknowledged not to be the target and works with it. So for the purposes of discussion, one may define consciousness(prime) as something less than true consciousness and attempt to work with that lesser definition. However, at all times, one must admit to working with a lesser definition that may never lead to knowledge that applies to the target definition. We must also admit that consciousness as many understand it may not exist.