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Qualitative consciousness is conscious experience marked by the presence of sensory qualities, like the experienced painfulness of having a piano dropped on your foot, or the consciousness of seeing the brilliant reds and oranges of a sunset. Over his career, philosopher David Rosenthal has defended an influential theoretical approach to explaining qualitative consciousness. This approach involves the development of two theories - the higher-order thought theory of mental state consciousness and the quality space theory of sensory quality. If the problem of explaining qualitative consciousness is divided into two more manageable pieces, the door opens to a satisfying explanation of what is seen by some to be an intractable explanatory puzzle. This interdisciplinary collection develops, criticizes, and expands upon themes inspired by Rosenthal's work. The result is an exciting collection of new essays by philosophers and scientists, which will be of interest to all those engaged in consciousness studies.
List of contents
Part I. Consciousness: 1. Cognitive Phenomenology: Accessibility vs. Acquaintance Joseph Levine; 2. Two Kinds of Introspection Anna Giustina and Uriah Kriegel; 3. There's Something About David Martin Hahn and Kathleen Akins; 4. Thin Introspection Amy Kind; 5. Confidence Tracks Consciousness Jorge Morales and Hakwan Lau; Part II. Qualities: 6. Rosenthal on Mental Qualities Alex Byrne; 7. Rosenthal's Representationalism Jacob Berger and Richard Brown; 8. Quality Space Theory and Motoric Qualities Myrto Mylopoulos; 9. Qualitative Character and Conceivable Inversions Austen Clark; Part III. Higher-Order Thought: 10. A Challenge: Can Self-Monitoring be Achieved Without Consciousness? Daniel Dennett; 11. Being Self-Involved Without Thinking About it Miguel Angel Sebastian; 12. Higher-Order Thought Theory Meets Phenomenal Intentionality Sam Coleman; 13. Controlling phenomenology by being unaware of intentions Zoltan Dienes, Peter Lush, and Bence Palfi; 14. Mental Appearance and Mental Reality David Rosenthal.
Summary
This collection investigates themes from the philosophy of the influential philosopher of mind David Rosenthal, focusing on key ideas in the study of qualitative consciousness, conscious experience marked by sensory qualities like felt pain or the experienced colors of a sunset. The essays elaborate, criticize, and refine Rosenthal's views.
