Concepts of consciousness, kinds of consciousness, meanings of 'consciousness'

Philosophical Studies 109 (1):1-16 (2002)
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Abstract

The use of expressions like ‘concepts of consciousness’, ‘kinds of consciousness’, and ‘meanings of ‘consciousness’’ interchangeably is ubiquitous within the consciousness literature. It is argued that this practice can be made sense of in only two ways. The first involves interpreting ‘concepts of consciousness’ and ‘kinds of consciousness’ metalinguistically to mean concepts expressed by ‘consciousness’ and kinds expressed by ‘consciousness’; and the second involves certain literal, though semantically deviant, interpretations of those expressions. The trouble is that researchers typically use the above expressions interchangeably without satisfying either way of doing so coherently. The result is much error and confusion, which is demonstrated in the works of philosophers currently writing on consciousness.

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Author's Profile

Michael Antony
University of Haifa

Citations of this work

Self-awareness Part 1: Definition, measures, effects, functions, and antecedents.Alain Morin - 2011 - Social and Personality Psychology Compass 5: 807-823.
Kinds of Consciousness.Jacob Berger - 2022 - In Carolyn Dicey Jennings & Benjamin D. Young (eds.), Mind, Cognition, and Neuroscience: A Philosophical Introduction. New York, NY, USA:
The Indeterminacy of Plant Consciousness.Chauncey Maher - 2021 - Journal of Consciousness Studies 28 (1-2):136-154.

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References found in this work

On a confusion about a function of consciousness.Ned Block - 1995 - Brain and Behavioral Sciences 18 (2):227-–247.
Consciousness and Experience.William G. Lycan - 1996 - Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
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Conscious experience.Fred Dretske - 1993 - Mind 102 (406):263-283.
A theory of consciousness.David M. Rosenthal - 1997 - In Ned Block, Owen J. Flanagan & Guven Guzeldere (eds.), The Nature of Consciousness. MIT Press.

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