Being No One
September 8, 2008 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780195320671.003.0009 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that a primeval phenomenal experience is shared by all sentient beings that model their world and themselves within it, and that this differs from the reflexive self-consciousness language affords humans. Proposes that "access" among internal and external representations is the unifying concept for explaining both forms of consciousness. |
Abstract
Abstract In Contrast to the kind of REFLEXIVE SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS afforded to humans by looking into the mirror of language, there exists in all of us a more primeval awareness. To the extent that they maintain a model of the world that surrounds them, and themselves as being part of it, all sentient beings share this latter capacity. In the present chapter, I lay out a computational explanation both of this elemental PHENOMENAL EXPERIENCE, and of consciousness grounded in reflection and narrative. The unifying concept will be that of ACCESS among representations — those maintained internally, as well as “that vast external memory, the external environment itself” (Reitman et al., 1978, p.72).