A question that continues to puzzle scholars (and Honors students, alike) is that of what defines human consciousness. It would be simple to say that it is defined by one’s awareness of itself and of its surroundings. What makes the question so difficult to answer, though, is that consciousness is much more than an acute awareness; it is the process of becoming aware, finding the purpose of our consciousness, and building morals and intelligence from that awareness that entangles those who search for answers in a web of utter confusion. In beginning my search for the understanding of consciousness, I chose to look into the thoughts and beliefs of Karl Marx and Jean-Paul Sartre. Marx and Sartre are similar in their philosophy in that …show more content…
Starting with Sartre’s existentialist point of view, consciousness is defined as being-for-itself. When we are for-itself, we recognize our consciousness, but also understand that we are incomplete (SparkNotes Editors, 2005). This notion of being-for-itself is what makes clear Sartre’s belief that existence proceeds essence; we aren’t born with innate traits, but rather, we create our consciousness. We are free to choose how we will interpret our surroundings, what we will believe, and what type of personality we wish to have in accordance to those beliefs and interpretations. Sartre further explains that this freedom comes with heavy responsibility. Once we make a choice, we cannot make excuses for ourselves or put the blame on someone or something else if the choice turns sour or ends up being faulty; when we accept the freedom, we accept the full responsibility, too. If we fail to take up this responsibility and live dishonestly about inevitabilities, such as death, or possibilities, we are living in “bad faith”, as Sartre says. On the other hand, to live in good faith is to understand and acknowledge that control of the outside world is not in our hands, yet to still take the responsibility and freedom of choices that we have over ourselves. Living nobly in good faith may be what is troubling about existentialism to some people, especially those who are religious. I believe that Sartre feels that humans are innately good and have the
Native Americans believed that we are and should be one with Mother Nature. Many believes stem from them being so Intune with the wind, ground, tress/plants and animals. They believe that everything is connected and to be fully connected they needed to have these special ceremonies. These ceremonies included peyote and strong tobaccos to reach true enlightenment and to become one with yourself. Also in these ceremonies you typically are on a journey to find yourself or see things you need to strengthen within yourself. Since I have started mediating and looking further in depth about meditating, I have learned that many feel that you cannot reach true enlightenment in ordinary consciousness. I believe that this “ordinary consciousness” is somewhat
Numerous factors determine when and why you feel tired, full of energy, and hungry. A person's state of consciousness and awareness varies throughout the day and depends on a person's activity, environment, and time clock.
The fascination with consciousness dates back to the time of Plato and Descartes. Since those times the term “consciousness” has spurned controversy in many scientific fields, including the fields of biology, psychology, and neuroscience. However, with the recent advancements in brain imaging technologies, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG), human consciousness has shifted from being a subjective, abstract idea into being a observable scientific phenomenon. As neuroimaging capabilities progress, the public interest in consciousness also grows.
Intelligence and Consciousness are two very controversial topics discussed in neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy. They are both labels for inner-workings of the brain, so they cannot easily be identified. The existence itself of intelligence is not very controversial, because it refers to the brain’s capacity for memory, learning, and ability to reason and problem-solve. However, the measurement of intelligence is very oversimplified and unreliable. Consciousness is significantly more debatable because it is essentially impossible (at least by today’s standards) to develop an objective list of criteria to identify consciousness. Very little is known about it other than the fact that we feel as if we have a single consciousness. The two
3. Paulo Freire is interested in what he called "critical consciousness." Freire explains critical consciousness to be an educative concept that engages individuals in questioning their role in a situation. Such awareness is the foundation of historical and social change as people need to learn how to read the world around them and realize that the world experiences consequences of people's actions. This concept focuses on achieving a deep understanding of the world around us and how we must intervene with our reality to change it.
Consciousness is a pivotal element in human existence. According to Max Velmans and Susan Schneider The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness: "Anything that we are aware of at a given moment forms part of our consciousness”. As important as it is, scientists have trouble in coining the exact definition for consciousness. Even more shockingly, there have been studies that claim human do not make conscious decisions as we have always believed, such as the article Unconscious determinants of free decisions in the human brain published by Nature Publishing Group in 2008, and in the BBC documentary The Secret You by Marcus du Sautoy.
The subject of the conscious mind has long been a debate in the world of psychology; what exactly is it and where does it occur in the brain. Unfortunately, the debate still continues as there is no concrete answer currently available. Nevertheless, it is understood what it means to be conscious. One is aware of when they are awake, sleeping, or thinking. The topic of the conscious mind was historically left to scholars in the field of philosophy and religion with little input from the scientific side (Brainbank, 2013). But the more information that becomes readily available about the human brain, the more scientists are ready to tack the controversial subject.
Human Consciousness is when the happenings of the day are filtered through an individual’s thoughts and experiences. The consciousness consists of both wakefulness, being alert, and awareness, ability to experience life in a unique perspective. The daily fluctuations between wakefulness and alertness is due to the changing state of mental functioning, or the changes between waking and sleeping.
Human curiosity has always attempted to understand the concept of consciousness. However, humanity's only definition is described as the state of being aware of one's surroundings. In a world where the mind is an undiscovered endless amount of power and self-expression, it is hard to categorize consciousness with such a vague definition. Questions also arise in regards to the very location of an individual's mind and whether it is dually connected with one's body or a separate entity entirely. The physical presence of the mind currently rests as a mystery but many theorize that its location is a part of your body or that it has no physical relation. Each individual currently has a different view on the definition of consciousness and the location of your mind rests with the belief of each individual.
Sartre and existentialism stresses free will by the choices you make and that you must take responsibility for every decision you make. Even though there are laws in the world that explain to
Consciousness, from an existentialist standpoint, is defined as awareness of how no life has inherent meaning or importance, and how one’s life is defined by how they are viewed by others. Though many pursue a synthetic purpose in life, in the end, their life is only defined by others' perceptions of their efforts and character.
Locke rationalizes, an older person may not remember their “self” as young child, but they have memories from when they were middle-aged. When they were middle-aged, they remember their “self” as a young child, therefore their consciousness can be linked.
For starters consciousness is a mystical network. It has several different extraordinary characters. One David Chalmers says it has a “unified and a differentiated character”, that he feels defines consciousness and makes it simple. But is it really that simplistic?? I mean consciousness is something everyone is aware of at every waking moment of life until death. Never has it been something
To support this claim, Sartre gives the example of Cocteau’s story Round the world in 80 Hours and the phrase “Man is magnificent!” Sartre rejects this claim, that “Man is magnificent,” because it is invalid to transcribe the accomplishments of one person onto another because in doing so, it assumes that all people are the same and confines them into the definition of others, not what they define themselves as. However, existentialism is a form of humanism in the sense that existentialism promotes the concept of abandonment, that each person is left to their own devices and must decide who and what they are. Additionally, each person creates their own value by looking outside one’s self, and constantly reflecting on how to improve - everybody has the potential to be great, not just a select
Sartre’s atheist existentialism presented in his lecture mainly states that there is no human nature in which man can place his trust; therefore, man is free to choose and is the definer of himself through his own choices and actions. Sartre begins by listing some prevalent oppositions against existentialism. For example, the Communists blame it for inducing “quietism and despair,” because the idea that there is no code of ethics to tell man what he ought to do and become generates fear that might discourage people from committing themselves to action. Christians reproach existentialism for