Phenomenal and Self-consciousness

 

 

Phenomenal Consciousness

Phenomenal consciousness refers to the qualiative, subjective or phenomenological aspects of conscious experience. This if often identified as qualia - how things appear to us. Nagel introduced the idea that there might be something it is like to be a member of another species. This kind of consciousness is most likely in primates and other mammals.

 

Self-consciousness

Self-consciousness refers to the organism's capacity for second-order representation of the organism's own mental states. This is closely related to the question about theory of mind in non-human animals. This concept of theory of mind is whether any animal is capable of attributing mental states to others. Most research into self-consciousness and the theory of mind has been carried out on chimps and non-human primates.

 

 

click here to return to index page:

  • index