Consciousness and Philosophers of the Mind

Growing up the common conception of what consciousness pertains to what is done with thought. However, when taking an in-depth examination of this topic, it appears that there is more to it than that. It is one of the most familiar concepts in the world, yet, it has a mysterious factor to it. Consciousness poses a baffling problem of the mind. It raises many questions surrounding its definition and furthermore how it correlates to everything else that we know today. Chalmers in his work (put name here) attempts to define what consciousness is and two problems that make it difficult to grasp. In addition, I will seek to derive a solution to the issue surrounding comprehending consciousness.

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.

Daniel Bor, a psychological researcher, and author, wrote an article titled “When Do We Become Truly Conscious” published on September 4, 2012 and in this article he discusses the idea of consciousness. Through use of deductive reasoning Bor refers to early opinions viewing consciousness as magic and discusses the science behind demystifying consciousness. Bor also discusses the ethical arguments behind learning for about consciousness. Bor also lists some of the emotional arguments centered on human awareness. Bor’s use of rhetorical strategies is designed to state his opinion in a simple and easily read way.

My own theory of consciousness is a state of awareness of self. It has been said that this awareness stems from arousal. Consciousness, to me, is entirely internal. We experience the external world, but only through our senses. Dehaene and Naccache (2001) explain that neuroscience is beginning to investigate and understand the "neural underpinnings of consciousness." Thus, consciousness is something that we experience via our own bodies. However, there is an implied separation between experience and consciousness. Animals and plants also have mechanisms for interacting with the world, but they do not appear to have the same neural underpinnings that them to interpret the world with the same awareness that humans have. We, however, not only experience the external world, but we are aware of that experience.

Consciousness refers to an individual’s self-awareness, both internally and external stimulus which include your unique thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations and environment. Your consciousness can constantly change from one conscious to another. The constant change in consciousness can also be referred to as “stream of conscious”. Awareness- its mechanism and function has

For many years the question of whether or not the unconscious mind really exists, and if it does then what does it consist of has baffled many theorist’s minds and has made many philosophers question themselves. There have been debates on whether the conscious mind is influenced by other parts of the mind. These parts are indented within the unconscious, which has processes such as personal habits, intuition and being oblivious to certain things in life. While we are completely aware of what is happening I the conscious mind, we have absolutely no idea of what information is stored in the unconscious mind. It is believed that the unconscious mind comprises various significant and disturbing material, which is required to be kept out of awareness as they may be too menacing to completely acknowledge and be mindful of. There are been some critics that have completely disbelieved the existence of the unconscious mind. Many psychological scientists today believe that the unconscious mind is the shadow of a “real” conscious mind. However, through extensive research, evidence has been found that the unconscious is not visibly complex, controlling, or action-orientated.

The term consciousness refers to "your individual awareness of your unique thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations and environment” (Kendra Cherry, http://psychology.about.com). Our unconscious contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are well below the surface of awareness but that nevertheless have a great influence on behavior.

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

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.

According to the online Princeton Wordnetweb dictionary, consciousness is “an alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation”

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

Consciousness allows a person to recognize their existence, and subsequently, to form their essence. The

One such person who defends such a claim is an American philosopher known as Daniel Dennett. He argues that every single person on this world considers themselves a pioneer of the term ‘consciousness.’ This is because consciousness is not a subject that is limited to only pioneers. Every single person experiences consciousness and there fore, they all have a view on their version of consciousness and hence, they consider themselves experts regarding the topic. He gave an example of a person who performed a magic trick towards an audience and when the audience was questioned on how he performed those tricks, they each had a different interpretation of what they saw. None of the things that they saw were actually demonstrated by the magician. He says “How can it be that there are so many changes going on and yet we are