ASSC publications

Self-Based Notions of Consciousness

Perlis, Donald (2006) Self-Based Notions of Consciousness. In: 10th annual meeting of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, 23-26 June 2006, Oxford, UK.

Full text available as:

PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
168 Kb

Abstract

I survey "self-based" notions of consciousness (that urge a fundamental role for self-reference or self-awareness) and contrast such theories with various alternatives, giving special attention to the so-called hard problem. Why should a particular process (in a particular cognitive architecture) be accompanied by a feel, a what-it's-like to be that process? I will argue that self-based theories at least hold out a hope and a direction here, unlike most non-self-based theories. Further, self-based theories and their relatives come from divers parts of cognitive science, an intriguing further hint of their significance. Among the self-based ideas to be considered are those of Elman, Grice, Humphrey, Lloyd, Newton, Peacocke, Perry, and Searle.

Comments/Discussion

This item describes ideas concerning the qualitative character of consciousness as a kind of self-based experience.

Item Type:ASSC Conference Item (Poster)
Uncontrolled Keywords:Consciousness, the hard problem, qualia, thick time
Disciplines:Philosophy
Topics:Theory of Consciousness
Article Type:Theoretical
ID Code:139
Deposited By:Professor Donald Perlis
Deposited On:11 September 2006

Repository Staff Only: edit this item