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| Historical Views of Consciousness |
Historical Views of Consciousness
In the western world, before the 17th century, there was no distinction between the concepts of ‘conscience’ and ‘consciousness’. Your conscience was your inner control over the commission of sin. The connection between consciousness, moral decisions, and just punishment has persisted over time and is now embedded in the legal principle that you can only be criminally guilty for acts that you were conscious of committing at the time.
In 1689, John Locke published his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, in which he developed the concept of psychological awareness as a basis for personality and selfidentification.
Many philosophers make a distinction between ‘phenomenal consciousness’ – being aware of sensory input, and ‘access consciousness’ – being aware that information is being processed internally.
The evolutionary advantages of consciousness would probably include the abilities to evaluate alternatives, to solve problems, to detect errors in procedures, to plan, to learn, and to create mental constructs.
In the western world, before the 17th century, there was no distinction between the concepts of ‘conscience’ and ‘consciousness’. Your conscience was your inner control over the commission of sin. The connection between consciousness, moral decisions, and just punishment has persisted over time and is now embedded in the legal principle that you can only be criminally guilty for acts that you were conscious of committing at the time.
In 1689, John Locke published his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, in which he developed the concept of psychological awareness as a basis for personality and selfidentification.
Many philosophers make a distinction between ‘phenomenal consciousness’ – being aware of sensory input, and ‘access consciousness’ – being aware that information is being processed internally.
The evolutionary advantages of consciousness would probably include the abilities to evaluate alternatives, to solve problems, to detect errors in procedures, to plan, to learn, and to create mental constructs.
