Attentional structuring, subjectivity, and the ubiquity of reflexive inner awareness
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21334883 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Amit Chaturvedi (0000-0003-1774-9870, University of Hong Kong, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 67 |
| Issue | 9 |
| Pages | 3240-3279 |
| Publication date | 2024-10-20 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Inquiry (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-174X • E-ISSN: 1502-3923 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0020174x.2022.2032324 |
| OpenAlex | W4214858236 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 25 |
Some have argued that a subject has an inner awareness of its conscious mental states by virtue of the non-introspective, reflexive awareness that any conscious state has of itself. But, what exactly is it like to have a ubiquitous and reflexive inner awareness of one’s conscious states, as distinct from one’s outer awareness of the apparent world? This essay derives a model of ubiquitous inner awareness (UIA) from Sebastian Watzl’s recent theory of attention as the activity of structuring consciousness into an experiential center and periphery. I develop Watzl’s theory into an account of UIA by suggesting that a subject is acquainted with its own conscious mental states through being reflexively aware of how these states are structured by attention into a unified subjective perspective. I favorably compare this Watzl-inspired account of UIA against other contemporary analytic and classical Buddhist accounts of reflexive awareness and subjective character, which variously ground the inner awareness of conscious states on their intrinsic phenomenal quality of ‘for-me-ness’, their affective/hedonic valence, or a subject’s disposition to introspect them. The Watzl-inspired account also accommodates possible counter-examples to Watzl’s theory posed by states of minimal phenomenal experience such as lucid dreamless sleep and non-dual meditative awareness
Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Consciousness · Electromagnetic theories of consciousness · Emotional valence · Epistemology · Internal monologue · Introspection · Metaphysics · Philosophy of mind · Physicalism · Reflexivity · Self-awareness · Sociology · Subject (documents) · Subjectivity · Computer Science · Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy · Philosophy · Philosophy and Theoretical Science · Psychology · Social Psychology · Theology and Philosophy of Evil
Reason and Tradition in Indian Thought
Subjective Consciousness
Naturalizing The Mind
Structuring Mind
Understanding the Higher-Order Approach to Consciousness
The reflexive nature of consciousness
Thought insertion and disturbed for-me-ness (minimal selfhood) in schizophrenia
Reflecting on Pre-Reflective Self-Consciousness
Nonconceptual Content and the “Space of Reasons”
Intentionalism Defended
Naturalizing Subjective Character
Self-Awareness (svasaṃvedana) in Dignāga’s Pramāṇasamuccaya and -vṛtti
The Limitations of Perceptual Transparency
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |