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A Cartography of Cognitive and Non‐Cognitive States of Consciousness

Roland Fischer

Anthropology of Consciousness July 1, 1992 DOI: 10.1525/ac.1992.3.3-4.3 (opens in new tab)

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AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed
Key points Proposes that consciousness is an adaptive construction of the organism for navigating the world, linking arousal states to different states of consciousness.

Abstract

A theory of consciousness is proposed which integrates much of what we know about the evolution and functioning of the human brammmd. The organism constructs its world of experience as an adaptation to the problem of moving in the world. The relationship between the observed and unobserved world is discussed. A cartography of state‐bound meaning is described in which the continuum of arousal states is linked to different states of consciousness. The inevitable ambiguity of perception is addressed and the evolutionary and developmental importance of self‐awareness is emphasized. All of this is related to poststructuralist formulations.

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