Does Inner Awareness Always Accompany Outer Awareness During Perception?
Madhu Mangal Chaturvedi, A. V. Ravishankar Sarma
Problemos October 16, 2019 DOI: 10.15388/problemos.96.11 (opens in new tab) via DOAJ
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractPerceptual consciousness of the outside world always includes an inner awareness of that very mental state. This thesis is defended against philosopher Rocco Gennaro, who argued that outer-directed conscious states lack such inner awareness, opposing Uriah Kriegel's self-representationalist view. The authors critically examine Gennaro's arguments and present their own reasoning to show why denying inner awareness is mistaken.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Inner awareness Perceptual consciousness Self-representationalism Higher-order-thought |
| Key finding | Argues that outer-world-directed perceptual consciousness always involves an inner awareness, contrary to Gennaro's opposing view. |
Abstract
In the present paper, we defend the thesis that outer-world-directed perceptual consciousness is always accompanied by an inner awareness (IAOA). This is contrary to the view that outer-world-directed conscious mental states are not accompanied by an inner awareness, which is held by Gennaro (2008) against Kriegel’s (2009a and 2009b) self-representationalism. We attempt to show why philosophers like Gennaro get it wrong when they deny the IAOA thesis by critically examining his arguments against it and by giving arguments in its favour.