Phenomenal Consciousness and Self-Awareness

Status: Abgeschlossen (01.12.2016 - 31.07.2022) | Finanzierung: SNF | Projektblatt öffnen

This project aims at integrating various fields of research within philosophy of mind, in particular issues about phenomenal consciousness and self-awareness. These systematically related issues are usually discussed in almost complete isolation from each other. Our research should thus contribute to a change of perspective in this respect, which we believe is necessary to develop a more unified and coherent understanding of the mind. Our research will be framed within a terminology different from the one standardly used in the present debates. This choice will be justified by arguing that the proposed framework allows for a more natural and adequate account of consciousness, self-awareness and the relation between the two. Within that framework, an argument will be developed for the view that the notion of an experiencing subject is fundamental for our understanding of consciousness. This amounts to proposing a shift in the way one approaches the various interrelated problems within the philosophy of mind in general, since the experiencing subject is usually left out of the picture in the relevant contemporary debates. Our work will explicitly address the following questions: What is the nature of our epistemic situation with respect to our own conscious states? What is the relation between phenomenal consciousness and self-awareness? Does the former necessarily involve the latter? Is there a sense in which we are aware of ourselves as experiencing subjects? If so, what is the nature of that awareness? What is the relation between the concepts we have of phenomenal kinds of experiences and the concept we have of ourselves as experiencing subjects? What is the basis of our understanding of what it is to be a conscious individual?

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