Nonconceptual Self-Consciousness and Cognitive Science

Self-consciousness, long considered a philosophical puzzle, can be understood by tracing its origins to simpler, nonconceptual forms of self-awareness. This paper argues that sophisticated self-conscious thought emerges from basic capacities present in visual perception, bodily awareness, spatial reasoning, and social interactions. By examining these primitive forms, the author shows how philosophical analysis and cognitive science can inform each other, offering a way out of the paradox that seemed to block progress on understanding self-consciousness.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Taking as point of departure a paradox (the paradox of self-consciousness) that appears to block philosophical elucidation of self-consciousness, this paper illustrates how highly conceptual forms of self-consciousness emerge from a rich foundation of nonconceptual forms of self-awareness. Attention is paid in particular to the primitive forms of nonconceptual self-consciousness manifested in visual perception, somatic proprioception, spatial reasoning and interpersonal psychological interactions. The study of these primitive forms of self-consciousness is an interdisciplinary enterprise and the paper considers a range of points of contact where philosophical work can illuminate work in the cognitive sciences, and vice versa.