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self-consciousness
Also known as: self-conscious
synthesized from dimensionsSelf-consciousness is a multifaceted phenomenon characterized by a subject’s capacity to perceive or think of themselves as an individual entity, rather than merely experiencing the world as an object-focused observer subject's capacity for. At its core, it involves a transition from simple awareness to a state of "awareness of awareness," where the subject represents themselves within their own mental states self-consciousness defined as, higher-order creature consciousness definition. While linguistic tools such as the first-person pronoun "I" are frequently used to express this state first-person pronoun 'I', the existence of such language does not definitively guarantee the presence of true self-consciousness thought experiment on.
The philosophical significance of self-consciousness lies in its proposed role as a foundational condition for rationality, agency, and the unity of experience. Many theorists, following Kantian traditions, argue that self-consciousness is necessary for the organization of objective experience unity of consciousness depends. Similarly, Higher-Order Thought (HOT) and Higher-Order Perception (HOP) theories posit that consciousness inherently entails self-consciousness because a subject must represent their own mental states to be truly conscious consciousness entails self-consciousness, HOT and HOP theories. However, these claims are contested by the "just more content" objection, which questions whether self-conscious thoughts are merely additional, independent contents rather than a necessary unifying structure just more content objection.
There is significant debate regarding the origins and prerequisites of self-consciousness. Some perspectives, rooted in the work of Fichte, Hegel, and Davidson, argue that self-consciousness is not an isolated achievement but requires the presence of other subjects—a process often described as "triangulation" or the necessity of other-awareness as a precondition for self-understanding other-awareness necessary. This aligns with theories that link self-consciousness to mindreading and Theory of Mind, suggesting that the ability to interpret others is inextricably tied to the ability to interpret oneself self-consciousness and mindreading. Conversely, other models emphasize internal mechanisms, such as the integration of proprioception, autobiographical memory, and spatial representation, as the primary drivers of self-awareness sources of information.
Empirical research has increasingly sought to make self-consciousness tractable through cognitive science and neuroscience. Techniques such as the "mirror test" have been used to identify markers of self-recognition, though these remain controversial, with critics arguing they may only measure sensory-motor feedback processing rather than genuine self-awareness mirror test marker, empirical tractability. Modern neuroimaging has identified the default mode network (DMN) as a key neural correlate for self-representation, and researchers are exploring how self-consciousness exists in varying degrees across different species and developmental stages sources of information.
Ultimately, self-consciousness remains a complex, multifaceted concept that bridges the gap between subjective experience and rational agency. Whether viewed as a primitive, pre-reflective state or a sophisticated, higher-order cognitive achievement, it is central to how individuals navigate their environment, manage their beliefs, and exercise agency rational subjects must be, essential indexical theory. While scholars remain divided on whether it is a constitutive requirement for all thought or a developmental outcome of social and cognitive maturation, its status as a critical intersection of philosophy, psychology, and artificial intelligence is firmly established emergence from experimental techniques.
Model Perspectives (5)
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Self-consciousness is fundamentally characterized as a form of awareness in which a subject perceives or thinks of themselves as themselves, rather than merely identifying an object that happens to be the self self-consciousness defined as, subject's capacity for. While the first-person pronoun "I" is widely viewed as the primary linguistic tool for this expression first-person pronoun 'I', philosophers debate whether such linguistic capability guarantees true self-consciousness thought experiment on.
A central theme in philosophy is whether self-consciousness is a necessary condition for consciousness or rationality. Proponents of Higher-Order Thought (HOT) and Higher-Order Perception (HOP) theories, such as David Rosenthal, argue that consciousness entails self-consciousness because individuals must represent themselves in a first-order state consciousness entails self-consciousness, HOT and HOP theories. Similarly, Kantian arguments suggest that the unity of experience relies on self-awareness unity of consciousness depends. However, these views face challenges, such as the "just more content" objection, which questions if self-conscious thoughts are merely additional contents requiring their own unification just more content objection.
The nature of self-consciousness is also linked to rationality and agency. Christine Korsgaard identifies self-consciousness as the source of reason, allowing individuals to treat internal incentives as proposals for decision-making source of reason. Sydney Shoemaker posits that rational subjects must be self-conscious to effectively revise beliefs and manage desires rational subjects must be. Conversely, some scholars, such as Hilary Kornblith and Doris, remain skeptical of a constitutive link between self-consciousness and rationality skepticism regarding constitutive.
Modern research increasingly bridges philosophical inquiry with cognitive science. This includes the study of self-recognition markers like mirror tests mirror test marker, and the role of diverse information sources—including memory, proprioception, and spatial representation—which suggest that self-consciousness may exist in varying degrees rather than as an all-or-nothing achievement sources of information.
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Self-consciousness is a multifaceted concept defined as the state of being aware of oneself [38]. While often expressed through first-person pronouns like 'I', 'me', and 'my' [26], it remains a complex subject of inquiry involving semantic, epistemic, and conceptual dimensions [36]. A core philosophical challenge, noted by José Luis Bermúdez, is the 'paradox of self-consciousness'—the circularity of using the first-person pronoun to explain a concept that the pronoun itself presupposes [22].
Theoretical approaches to self-consciousness are diverse:
- Foundational Models: Immanuel Kant posited that self-consciousness is a necessary condition for all thought [37] and is interdependent with the experience of an organized, objective world [13]. Similarly, P.F. Strawson argued that the concept of a 'person' is primitive and essential for self-consciousness [30].
- Cognitive and Empirical Perspectives: Once absent from early computational cognitive science [33], self-consciousness has become empirically tractable [24]. Research by Shoemaker, Evans, and Bermúdez identifies five essential information sources: introspection, perception-based self-location, spatial representation, autobiographical memory, and bodily proprioception [60].
- Mindreading and Social Context: Some theorists suggest self-consciousness emerges from mindreading, either by applying Theory of Mind to oneself [18] or through early social interactions [7]. Donald Davidson’s 'triangulation' argument asserts that self-consciousness requires a second subject who can interpret the thinker [55], a view supported by philosophers who prioritize knowledge of other minds as a precondition for self-consciousness [28].
Debates persist regarding the nature of self-awareness. While some argue for a 'pre-reflective' form of consciousness that does not objectify the self [6], others, such as Blaise Agüera y Arcas, define it specifically as 'awareness of awareness' [17]. Furthermore, experimental indicators like the 'mirror test' are contested; while some link success to self-consciousness [8], critics like Cecilia Heyes argue it merely reflects the ability to process novel sensory-motor feedback [12]. The default mode network (DMN) has also been identified as a neural area involved in self-representation and reflective awareness [11].
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Self-consciousness is a multifaceted concept explored across academic disciplines, ranging from behavioral psychology to philosophy and cognitive science. In psychological research, R.G. Turner examined self-consciousness regarding its role in the predictive validity of personality measures and behavioral consistency.
From a cognitive science perspective, as outlined by researchers at MIT Press, the study of self-consciousness encompasses several dimensions, including the nature of bodily awareness, the development of self-recognition in infants and animals, and the cognitive link between perceiving oneself and understanding the consciousness of others, often referred to as theory of mind.
Philosophical inquiry into the topic is equally rigorous. Brian Garrett explored these themes in his work on personal identity. However, the conceptualization of self-consciousness faces logical challenges; specifically, Elizabeth Anscombe identified a circularity in attempts to derive self-consciousness from the 'Self-Reference Rule,' arguing that such definitions presuppose the very capacity they seek to explain.
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Self-consciousness is extensively discussed in philosophy as distinct from object-consciousness or external awareness, forming a long-standing division (internal-external consciousness division). According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, some views treat it alongside other-mind awareness as aspects of general mindreading capacity (self-consciousness and mindreading), while traditions from Fichte, Hegel, and Mead require other-awareness as a precondition (other-awareness necessary). Historical developments span early modern thinkers like Descartes to Hume, analyzed by Udo Thiel (historical self-consciousness), Kant by C. Thomas Powell (Kant's theory), and Hegel by Robert B. Pippin (Hegel's self-consciousness). It connects to first-person thought, as in John Perry's essential indexical linking it to action (essential indexical theory), rationality implying self-knowledge (rationality requires self-knowledge), and imagination per Williams, Reynolds, and Velleman (self-consciousness and imagination). Cognitive science gained interest during the 1980s-1990s 'consciousness turn' (MIT Press), proving more empirically tractable than perceptual states (empirical tractability), with models like simulationism relying on it for other-understanding (simulationist view). Extensions include animal basic forms in birds (bird self-consciousness) and development in infancy (Butterworth 1992). Indian traditions debated its ties to perception (Indian philosophical debates), and modern contexts link it to dreaming, meditation, and psychedelics.
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Self-consciousness emerges as a multifaceted concept across philosophy, cognitive science, psychology, and AI, often distinguished from mere consciousness as involving higher-order awareness. According to higher-order creature consciousness definition by Carruthers (2000) in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, it entails a creature being aware that it is aware. Philosophical perspectives include a sense of ownership over one's experiential states and perceptual self-consciousness, alongside claims by Recanati and O'Brien that it inheres in the mode of conscious experience. Cognitive science highlights its emergence from experimental techniques and psychopathology, with dimensions like self-recognition and theory of mind explored by cognitive scientists (MIT Press). Bringsjord et al. (2015) implemented a higher-order logic system on a NAO robot passing human self-consciousness tests (Frontiers in Robotics and AI). Psychologically, it correlates strongly with self-awareness subscales (ResearchGate), includes mind reading dimensions (MIT Press), intensifies in adolescent peer concerns (Children and Screens), and arises from scars impacting self-esteem (Healogics). The Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science features entries by Jose Luis Bermudez and Malika Auvray on the topic.
Facts (128)
Sources
Self-Consciousness - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy plato.stanford.edu Jul 13, 2017 75 facts
claimThe first-person pronoun 'I' is widely recognized as the paradigmatic linguistic expression of self-consciousness in English, allowing a speaker to refer to oneself as oneself.
perspectiveThe interpretation that success on metacognitive opt-out tests indicates self-consciousness is controversial, with some researchers suggesting that the opt-out response reflects first-order environmental judgments rather than metacognitive uncertainty monitoring.
claimSelf-representationalism, Higher-Order Thought (HOT) theory, and Higher-Order Perception (HOP) theory all support the view that a form of self-consciousness is a necessary condition of consciousness.
claimDavid Rosenthal claims that phenomenal consciousness entails self-consciousness.
claimSome views suggest that self-consciousness and the capacity to think about others are two aspects of a more general capacity to think about the mind, rather than prioritizing the first-person case.
claimA common philosophical supposition is that self-consciousness is fundamentally a conscious awareness of the self, where introspection reveals a thing presented as oneself.
claimTimothy Lane and Caleb Liang argue that there is a relationship between self-consciousness and immunity to error through misidentification in their 2011 paper 'Self-Consciousness and Immunity'.
claimB. Williams (1973), Reynolds (1989), and Velleman (1996) discuss the relationship between self-consciousness and imagination.
referenceUdo Thiel examined the history of self-consciousness and personal identity from René Descartes to David Hume in his 2011 book 'The Early Modern Subject: Self-Consciousness and Personal Identity from Descartes to Hume'.
claimHilary Kornblith and Doris (2015) express skepticism regarding the claim that there is a constitutive connection between self-consciousness and rationality.
accountElizabeth Anscombe (1975) proposed a thought experiment where individuals have two names: one (ranging from "B" to "Z") printed on their chest for attributing actions to others, and one ("A") printed on their wrist for describing their own actions. Anscombe argues this scenario demonstrates that using a specific term to report one's own actions does not guarantee that the individuals possess self-consciousness, as they may not be thinking of those actions as things they themselves are performing.
claimChristopher Peacocke discussed subjects, consciousness, and self-consciousness in his 2014 book 'The Mirror of the World: Subjects, Consciousness, & Self-Consciousness'.
perspectiveFrançois Recanati and Lucy O'Brien maintain that experience involves self-consciousness in the mode of conscious experience rather than in the content of conscious experience.
referenceGeorge Bealer published 'Self-Consciousness' in the Philosophical Review in 1997.
claimThe 'Heidelberg School' interprets Johann Gottlieb Fichte as claiming that previous accounts of self-consciousness by René Descartes, John Locke, and Immanuel Kant are 'reflective' because they regard the self as an object rather than a subject.
claimC. Thomas Powell analyzed Immanuel Kant's theory of self-consciousness in his 1990 book 'Kant’s Theory of Self-Consciousness'.
claimDavid Lewis claims that all belief is self-locating or 'de se', meaning every belief involves the self-ascription of a property and is therefore an instance of self-consciousness.
claimSelf-consciousness is defined as a form of consciousness where a subject is aware of themselves as themselves, rather than merely being aware of something that happens to be themselves.
claimA philosophical tradition argues that an awareness of subjects other than oneself is a necessary condition of self-consciousness, with historical variations found in the works of Johann Gottlieb Fichte, G.W.F. Hegel, and George Herbert Mead.
claimA Kantian argument for self-consciousness being a necessary condition of consciousness posits that conscious experience is necessarily unified, and that this unity of consciousness depends on self-awareness.
claimChristine Korsgaard's account of the relationship between self-consciousness and the perspective of practical reason is discussed by Nagel (1996), Fitzpatrick (2005), and Soteriou (2013).
claimIndian philosophical traditions, including Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist schools, engaged in extensive debates during the ancient and medieval periods regarding the nature of self-consciousness and its relationship to sensory perception and bodily awareness.
perspectiveCritics including O'Brien (1994, 1995a), Garrett (1998), Campbell (1994), and Peacocke (2008) argue that the Self-Reference Rule (SRR) was not intended to explain the connection between self-consciousness and the first-person pronoun, but rather to account for the character of "I".
claimThe Kantian view posits that the unity of the self guarantees that co-conscious experiences are jointly self-ascribable, and that this unity requires self-consciousness.
claimGordon Gallup and colleagues claim that the capacity to recognize oneself in a mirror is a marker of self-consciousness.
referenceSebastian Rödl authored the book 'Self-Consciousness', published by Harvard University Press in 2007.
claimSydney Shoemaker argues that rational subjects must be self-conscious to avoid being self-blind regarding their beliefs, as rational belief revision requires awareness of one's own belief-desire system.
claimThe 'just more content' objection, raised by B. Williams (1978) and S. Hurley (1994, 1998), challenges the view that self-consciousness is the factor that unifies consciousness, arguing that self-conscious thoughts are themselves just additional contents that require unification with first-order experiences.
claimThe case of the patient known as K.C., who lost episodic memory due to an accident but appeared to remain otherwise self-conscious, suggests that episodic memory is not the only form of self-consciousness.
quoteChristine Korsgaard states: "Self-consciousness... is the source of reason. When we become conscious of the workings of an incentive within us, the incentive is experienced not as a force or a necessity but as a proposal, something we need to make a decision about."
referenceManfred Frank authored 'Fragments of a History of the Theory of Self-Consciousness from Descartes to Kierkegaard' in the journal 'Critical Horizons' in 2004.
claimEpisodic memory, defined as the capacity to recollect particular episodes from one's own past experience, is considered a potential marker of self-consciousness.
claimSeveral philosophers, including Bermúdez (1998), Hurley (1998), Zahavi (2005), Peacocke (2014), and Musholt (2015), maintain that self-consciousness is present in various forms of sensory and non-sensory experience, in addition to its manifestation in first-personal thinking.
claimSome philosophers argue that reductionism is incompatible with self-consciousness, and because humans are self-conscious, reductionism must be false.
claimHigher-Order Thought (HOT) and Higher-Order Perception (HOP) theories can be understood as holding that consciousness entails self-consciousness because they require an individual to represent themselves as being in a specific first-order state.
claimP.F. Strawson offers an account of persons that distances the notion from self-consciousness by defining a person as an entity to which both predicates ascribing states of consciousness and predicates ascribing corporeal characteristics are equally applicable.
claimAristotle claims that when a person perceives any object, they must also perceive their own existence, suggesting that consciousness entails self-consciousness.
claimNon-reflective creatures are considered by some theorists to lack the capacity for fully rational deliberation because they lack self-consciousness, even if they possess some degree of rationality.
referenceRocco Gennaro authored the book 'Consciousness and Self-Consciousness: A Defense of the Higher-Order Thought Theory of Consciousness', published by John Benjamins in 1996.
claimSydney Shoemaker argues that a rational creature in pain will typically desire to be rid of that pain, which requires the creature to believe that it is in pain, a belief that is inherently self-conscious.
claimA family of views posits that both self-consciousness and awareness of others emerge from a primitive 'adualist' state where the self and other are not distinguished.
claimSelf-consciousness is defined as a subject's capacity to entertain conscious thought about oneself, specifically thinking of oneself as oneself rather than merely thinking about a person who happens to be oneself.
accountIn Sophocles' play 'Oedipus', the protagonist Oedipus moves from knowing facts about himself (such as the prophecy that he would kill Laius) to realizing that he himself is the subject of those facts, which serves as an example of self-consciousness.
perspectiveThomas Metzinger (2003) claims that the variety of ways in which self-consciousness can break down poses a challenge to the idea that the sense of ownership is a universal characteristic of experience.
referenceErnst Tugendhat explored self-consciousness and self-determination in his 1979 book 'Self-Consciousness and Self-Determination', which was translated by Paul Stern in 1986.
claimA philosophical view of self-consciousness posits a 'pre-reflective' form that does not involve awareness of the self as an object.
claimOne empirical proposal suggests that self-consciousness emerges as a self-directed form of mindreading, derived from early social interaction and the capacity to understand others.
claimPassing the mirror test is arguably associated with phenomena linked to self-consciousness, such as experiencing shame and embarrassment, as noted by M. Lewis (2011).
claimThe necessity of an active agent possessing some form of self-awareness is argued to follow from the connection between action and self-consciousness, a connection established by considerations of the essential indexical.
perspectiveCecilia Heyes (1994) critiques the claim that mirror test success indicates self-consciousness, arguing that success only requires the ability to distinguish between novel bodily feedback and other incoming sensory data to guide behavior.
claimIf self-consciousness were merely being conscious of what is in fact oneself, then seeing oneself in a mirror would constitute self-consciousness, even if one were unaware that the object seen was oneself.
claimHector-Neri Castañeda identified an ambiguity in belief ascriptions containing 'he' or 'she', noting that 'Jane believes that she is F' does not necessarily imply that Jane realizes she is the person who is F.
claimSeveral philosophers, including Shoemaker (1988, 1994), Burge (1996), Moran (2001), Bilgrami (2006), and Boyle (2009, 2011), have argued that rationality requires self-knowledge, which implies self-consciousness.
referenceTim Bayne published 'Self-Consciousness and the Unity of Consciousness' in The Monist in 2004.
perspectiveCappelen and Dever argue that cases like Perry's shopper, often cited to show a special connection between self-consciousness and action, actually demonstrate that action explanation contexts are opaque and do not allow for substitution salva veritate.
claimSelf-consciousness is paradigmatically expressed in the English language through the use of the first-person pronouns and possessives 'I', 'me', and 'my'.
claimSome philosophers argue that knowledge of other minds is a necessary condition for the possibility of self-consciousness, prioritizing the awareness of others over the first-person case.
claimDuring the early modern period, self-consciousness became a central topic in epistemology and the philosophy of mind, particularly through the work of Immanuel Kant and the post-Kantians.
claimP.F. Strawson argues that the primitiveness of the concept of a person is a necessary condition for the possibility of self-consciousness.
claimEvidence regarding the development of self-consciousness can potentially shed light on both phylogenetic and ontogenetic development, as discussed by Ferrari & Sternberg (1998) and Terrace & Metcalfe (2005).
claimP.F. Strawson, in his discussion of Immanuel Kant's transcendental deduction, articulates the claim that if different experiences are to belong to a single consciousness, the subject of those experiences must have the possibility of self-consciousness.
claimThe phenomenon of self-consciousness involves fundamental questions regarding its relation to consciousness, its semantic and epistemic features, its realization in conceptual and non-conceptual representation, and its connection to the conception of an objective world populated with others.
claimSome philosophers, such as Bermúdez (1998), argue that determining which forms of experience have first-personal content is equivalent to determining which forms of experience are themselves forms of self-consciousness.
perspectiveCappelen and Dever hold the view that the capacity for self-consciousness does not possess a philosophically deep relation to the capacity for action.
claimThe core issue regarding self-consciousness is whether one can be conscious of oneself as oneself, a form of awareness where it is manifest to the subject that the object of awareness is oneself.
claimRobert B. Pippin analyzed G.W.F. Hegel's views on self-consciousness, desire, and death in his 2010 book 'Hegel on Self-Consciousness: Desire and Death in the Phenomenology of Spirit'.
claimA philosophical view of self-consciousness claims that various forms of experience involve a 'sense of ownership,' where individuals are aware of their own states as their own.
referenceManfred Frank authored 'Is Subjectivity a Non-Thing, an Absurdity [Unding]? On Some Difficulties in Naturalistic Reductions of Self-Consciousness' in 1995, published in 'The Modern Subject: Conceptions of the Self in Classical German Philosophy'.
claimTranscendental arguments regarding self-consciousness and knowledge of other minds are potentially open to general criticisms of that form of argument, according to Stroud (1968) and R. Stern (1999, 2000).
claimHilary Kornblith expresses skepticism regarding the role of self-consciousness in rationality, a position discussed by Pust (2014), M. Williams (2015), and Smithies (2016).
claimOne philosophical view posits that there is a perceptual or quasi-perceptual consciousness of the self as an object of experience.
claimDonald Davidson's triangulation argument connects self-consciousness, knowledge of other minds, and knowledge of the external world, asserting that for thoughts to have determinate content, there must exist another subject who is able to interpret the thinker.
claimJosef Parnas and Louis A. Sass analyzed the structure of self-consciousness in the context of schizophrenia in their 2011 chapter 'The Structure of Self-Consciousness in Schizophrenia'.
referenceBrian Garrett authored the book 'Personal Identity and Self-Consciousness', published by Routledge in 1998.
claimElizabeth Anscombe argues that any reformulation of the Self-Reference Rule intended to entail self-consciousness presupposes a prior grasp of self-conscious reference to oneself, creating a circular definition.
Self-Consciousness - Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science oecs.mit.edu Jul 24, 2024 25 facts
claimCognitive science began to take an increased interest in self-consciousness as part of the 'consciousness turn' that occurred during the 1980s and 1990s.
claimOne theory of self-consciousness suggests that it is defined by its unique role in generating intentional action, specifically that only thoughts about oneself expressed using the first-person pronoun 'I' feed directly into action.
claimThe ecological approach to perception identifies self-specifying invariants in the optic array, such as visual kinesthesis, which challenges the idea that self-consciousness is exclusively a high-level cognitive achievement.
perspectiveProponents of the theory-theory model of mind reading argue that self-consciousness is a theoretical achievement resulting from applying common sense theories to oneself, similar to how one makes sense of others.
claimJohn Locke (1632–1704) defined selfhood in terms of self-consciousness and extended the boundaries of selfhood to include the body.
claimThe perspective that self-consciousness relies on specific sources of information (introspection, perception, spatial representation, memory, and proprioception) bridges the gap between philosophical discussions and contemporary cognitive science, while suggesting that self-consciousness exists in degrees and is more widely distributed than previously thought.
claimPropositional awareness is defined as the awareness that something is the case, and in the context of self-consciousness, it involves being aware that one possesses certain properties.
referenceThe application of concepts regarding self and self-consciousness to robotics and artificial intelligence is a research area explored by Floridi (2005).
claimJohn Perry's theory of the essential indexical posits that genuine self-consciousness is linked to the ability to think and utter first-person thoughts.
claimImmanuel Kant introduced the idea that self-consciousness is interdependent with consciousness of an external objective world, asserting that one can only be aware of oneself to the extent that one experiences an organized world of objects that interact causally and predictably.
referenceThe 'theory-theory' of mind suggests that self-consciousness is the application of Theory of Mind to oneself, making self-understanding a theoretical achievement, as argued by Nichols and Stich (2003).
referenceThe development of self-consciousness in human infancy is a subject of research, notably by Butterworth (1992).
claimThe paradox of self-consciousness, as termed by José Luis Bermúdez, refers to the circularity of attempting to explain self-consciousness through the use of the first-person pronoun 'I', because the ability to use 'I' already presupposes the very notion of self-consciousness one is trying to explain.
perspectiveProponents of the elusiveness thesis argue that bodily awareness is insufficient for genuine self-consciousness because it does not constitute being aware of oneself specifically as a self.
claimSelf-consciousness has proven more tractable to empirical investigation than sensory states and perceptual consciousness within the field of cognitive science.
claimThere are two dominant models of mind reading, and they take different approaches to self-consciousness (Bermúdez, 2022).
claimIssues concerning self-consciousness were largely absent from the early decades of cognitive science, which were dominated by computational approaches to the mind.
perspectiveSimulationists argue that self-consciousness is a basic explanatory concept because humans understand others' behavior by projecting what they themselves would do in those situations.
claimImmanuel Kant argued that it is a condition of all thought that it be self-conscious in the sense of being attributed to a thinker, meaning one cannot think without thinking that one is oneself thinking.
claimSelf-consciousness is defined as the state of being aware of oneself.
referenceAutobiographical memory and agency play a role in self-consciousness, as discussed by Campbell (1994).
claimSelf-consciousness includes a dimension of mind reading, which is frequently described as self-knowledge or self-understanding.
claimThe emergence of self-consciousness as a significant issue in cognitive science was driven by a combination of new experimental techniques, attention to psychopathology, and new theoretical approaches.
referenceShoemaker (1968), Evans (1982), and Bermúdez (1998) identify five key sources of information that are essential to self-consciousness: the deliverances of introspection, self-locating and self-specifying information in perception, ways of representing one's position in space, autobiographical memories, and information about the body through proprioception and bodily sensations.
referenceCognitive scientists have explored dimensions of self-consciousness including how perception yields self-specifying information, self-recognition in infants and animals, the mechanisms and phenomenology of bodily awareness, and the interdependence of self-consciousness and consciousness of others in theory of mind.
(PDF) Levels of consciousness and self-awareness - Academia.edu academia.edu 3 facts
referenceR.G. Turner (1978b) investigated the relationship between self-consciousness and the speed of processing self-relevant information.
referenceAlbert Newen and Kai Vogeley searched for a neural signature of self-consciousness in their 2003 study published in Consciousness and Cognition.
referenceR.G. Turner (1978a) examined the relationship between consistency, self-consciousness, and the predictive validity of typical and maximal personality measures.
Self-Consciousness | Request PDF - ResearchGate researchgate.net 3 facts
claimThe academic entry titled 'Self-Consciousness' was published in the 'Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science' in July 2024.
measurementThe 'Self-Consciousness' entry in the 'Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science' is identified by the DOI 10.21428/e2759450.6de7f0b9.
claimJose Luis Bermudez, an academic affiliated with Texas A&M University, is an author of the 'Self-Consciousness' entry in the 'Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science'.
Exploring “lucid sleep” and altered states of consciousness using ... philosophymindscience.org Jan 7, 2025 2 facts
referenceJennifer M. Windt and Thomas Metzinger published 'The philosophy of dreaming and self-consciousness: What happens to the experiential subject during the dream state?' in the book 'The new science of dreaming: Vol. 3. Cultural and theoretical perspectives', edited by D. Barrett and P. McNamara, published by Praeger Publishers/Greenwood Publishing Group in 2007 (pp. 193–247).
referenceThe article 'New perspectives for the study of lucid dreaming: From brain stimulation to philosophical theories of self-consciousness' by Noreika, V., Windt, J. M., Lenggenhager, B., & Karim, A. A. was published in the International Journal of Dream Research in 2010 (Volume 3, issue 1, pages 36–45).
Classification Schemes of Altered States of Consciousness - ORBi orbi.uliege.be 2 facts
referenceMillière, Carhart-Harris, Roseman, Trautwein, and Berkovich-Ohana explored the relationship between psychedelics, meditation, and self-consciousness in a 2018 article published in Frontiers in Psychology.
referenceDroit-Volet and Dambrun published 'Awareness of the passage of time and self-consciousness: what do meditators report?' in PsyCh Journal, investigating the relationship between time perception and self-consciousness in meditators.
Scientists Identify the Evolutionary “Purpose” of Consciousness scitechdaily.com Nov 27, 2025 2 facts
claimGianmarco Maldarelli and Onur Güntürkün argue that birds may possess fundamental forms of conscious perception, specifically in sensory consciousness, neurobiological foundations, and self-consciousness.
claimPigeons and chickens demonstrate situational, basic self-consciousness by differentiating between their reflection in a mirror and a real fellow member of their species, reacting to each according to context.
Life, Intelligence, and Consciousness: A Functional Perspective longnow.org Aug 27, 2025 2 facts
perspectiveBlaise Agüera y Arcas distinguishes 'self-consciousness' (defined as awareness of awareness) from 'consciousness' (defined as basic awareness).
claimBacteria are likely not self-conscious because they lack the computational sophistication to build complex models of themselves or others.
Good Old-Fashioned Artificial Consciousness and the Intermediate ... frontiersin.org Apr 17, 2018 1 fact
claimBringsjord et al. (2015) implemented a cognitive system based on higher-order logic running on a NAO robot that passed human tests of self-consciousness.
Consciousness and Cognitive Sciences journal-psychoanalysis.eu 1 fact
claimThe division between internal and external consciousness, or object-consciousness and self-consciousness, is a long-standing distinction in philosophy.
Parent–child attachment and adolescent problematic behavior frontiersin.org Feb 26, 2025 1 fact
referenceLiu, Li, and Tang (2016) studied self-consciousness and its influencing factors among children with learning disabilities, published in the Chinese Journal of School Health.
Self-Consciousness and Self-Awareness: Associations between ... pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov 1 fact
claimThe theory of objective self-awareness predicts the assessment of stable or dispositional self-consciousness and transitory or situational self-awareness.
Associations between Stable and Transitory Levels of Evidence researchgate.net Oct 13, 2025 1 fact
claimThe association between self-consciousness and self-awareness is stronger for the awareness subscale.
(PDF) Self-consciousness, self-attention, and social interaction researchgate.net Feb 27, 2017 1 fact
measurementThe study titled "Self-consciousness, self-attention, and social interaction" conducted two experiments with a total of 128 female undergraduates to test the effects of self-focused attention on positive and negative social interactions.
The Children and Screens Guide for Child Development and Media ... childrenandscreens.org 1 fact
claimAdolescents may become preoccupied with the notion that other people's thoughts are focused on their own behaviors or appearance, which can lead to increased self-consciousness and concern over peer evaluation and acceptance.
Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART) frontiersin.org 1 fact
referenceDorothée Legrand introduced basic forms of self-consciousness in the 2007 article 'Subjectivity and the body: introducing basic forms of self-consciousness' published in Consciousness and Cognition.
Understanding the Stages of Wound Healing healogics.com 1 fact
claimHypertrophic and keloid scars can lead to psychological impacts including self-consciousness, reduced self-esteem, and in severe cases, social anxiety or depression.
The Mechanisms of Psychedelic Visionary Experiences - Frontiers frontiersin.org Sep 27, 2017 1 fact
claimThe default mode network (DMN) is involved in processes related to self-consciousness, reflective self-awareness, self-representation, and perceptions of social others.
Unknown source 1 fact
claimThe definition of self-consciousness as being aware of oneself raises a host of important questions that have long been a central focus in cognitive science.
Hard problem of consciousness - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 1 fact
claimThe term 'consciousness' is ambiguous and can refer to various states including self-consciousness, awareness, and the state of being awake.
Consciousness (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Fall 2025 ... plato.stanford.edu Jun 18, 2004 1 fact
claimSelf-consciousness is a sense of creature consciousness defined as a state where a creature is not only aware but also aware that it is aware, as discussed by Carruthers (2000).
Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science oecs.mit.edu 1 fact
claimThe Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science includes an entry on 'Self-Consciousness' authored by Malika Auvray.