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Higher-Order Theories of Consciousness. an Appraisal And JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN EDUCATION, PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL RESEARCH 387 Pessi Lyyra Higher-Order Theories of Consciousness An Appraisal and Application JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN EDUCATION, PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL RESEARCH 387 Pessi Lyyra Higher-Order Theories of Consciousness An Appraisal and Application Esitetään Jyväskylän yliopiston yhteiskuntatieteellisen tiedekunnan suostumuksella julkisesti tarkastettavaksi yliopiston Villa Ranan Blomstedt-salissa huhtikuun 21. päivänä 2010 kello 12. Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by permission of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Jyväskylä, in the building Villa Rana, Blomstedt hall, on April 21, 2010 at 12 o'clock noon. UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2010 Higher-Order Theories of Consciousness An Appraisal and Application JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN EDUCATION, PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL RESEARCH 387 Pessi Lyyra Higher-Order Theories of Consciousness An Appraisal and Application UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2010 Editor Jussi Kotkavirta Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences, University of Jyväskylä Pekka Olsbo Publishing Unit, University Library of Jyväskylä Cover picture by Pessi Lyyra URN:ISBN:978-951-39-3919-9 ISBN 978-951-39-3919-9 (PDF) ISBN 978-951-39-3848-2 (nid.) ISSN 0075-4625 Copyright © 2010 , by University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä University Printing House, Jyväskylä 2010 ABSTRACT Lyyra, Pessi Higher-order theories of consciousness: An appraisal and application Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2010, 163 pp. (Jyväskylä Studies in Education, Psychology and Social Research ISSN 0075-4625; 387) ISBN 978-951-39-3919-9 (PDF), 978-951-39-3848-2 (nid.) The subjectively experienced ‘phenomenality‘ of consciousness is often taken to constitute the greatest enigma of the contemporary philosophy of mind, or even science in general: how can phenomenal conscious experience arise out of its physical substrate? The so called higher-order theories of consciousness propose to solve this problem by the cognitive ability of being aware of one’s own mental states. The first and foremost justification for these theories is the intuitively appealing idea that only those mental states are conscious, which we are somehow aware of. In this study, these theories and the core intuition they rely on are examined. It is claimed that while this intuition holds for everyday human consciousness, it does not hold equally well for the more primitive kinds of consciousness, such as infant or animal consciousness. The intuition also conflicts with the opposite intuition that self-awareness can be detrimental to the vividness of world-directed consciousness. The intuition itself remains unexplained, and the theories lack relevant empirical support. To solve these problems, a novel conception of higher-order consciousness is suggested, a practical form of consciousness characteristic of human beings called ‘mentalized consciousness’. It essentially involves self-awareness and develops in the early interaction of an infant and its primary caregivers, as suggested by recent theories and findings in empirical psychology. It is shown that, while avoiding their problems, the intuitive appeal of the higher-order theories of consciousness can be explained by the concept of mentalized consciousness. Keywords: Consciousness, Phenomenality, Self-awareness, Higher-order theories of consciousness, Phenomenological theories of consciousness, Mentalization, Mentalized consciousness Author´s address Pessi Lyyra Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences University of Jyväskylä, Finland P.O.BOX 35, 40014 University of Jyväskylä [email protected] Supervisors Jussi Kotkavirta Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences University of Jyväskylä, Finland Mikko Yrjönsuuri Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences University of Jyväskylä, Finland Reviewers Paavo Pylkkänen Department of Theoretical Philosophy University of Helsinki, Finland Panu Raatikainen Department of Theoretical Philosophy University of Helsinki, Finland Opponent David Rosenthal Department of Philosophy and Cognitive Science Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have received inspiration and support for this project from so many people that only few of them can be duely mentioned. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisors Jussi Kotkavirta and Mikko Yrjönsuuri and other people of the unit of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy of The University of Jyväskylä for guidance, friendship and making up an exemplary working environment filled with enthusiasm and freedom of thought. It has been a privilege to work in a place with so many people with shared interests. People in the research projects ”The Concept of Person”, ”Limits of Personhood” and ”Human and animal minds in European philosophy 1200–1700” have influenced this study the most. In our seminars and reading groups most ideas of this study were conceived, developed and tested during the years. This study has crucially benefitted from discussions on the issues of it with Professor Antti Revonsuo from the University of Turku, Professor Dan Zahavi from the University of Copenhagen, Professor Shaun Gallagher from the University of Orlando, and Dr. Susanna Radovic from the University of Gothenburg. Mr. Michael Freeman gave indispensable advice with the English language. The research has been supported by The Finnish Cultural Foundation, The Fund of Central Finland of The Finnish Cultural Foundation, respectively, The Academy of Finland, and The Agora Center of The University of Jyväskylä. The research project has also been a significant occasion of personal growth, of self-understanding and becoming the person I am, which is reflected in the content of the study. I can say that I have lived the best days of my life during this research project. I owe everything to the “strong Lyyra women” and other members of my family, especially to my mother Ulla-Riitta Lyyra. I feel that I have inherited some of her originality and courage to stand behind it. Finally, I wish to thank the most my wife Hannalea Lyyra and our children Nana and Jouka for all the support and love – you have taught me what it is all about. At Gift Ridge, March 13, 2010 Pessi Lyyra FIGURES FIGURE 1 The consciousness tree.………………………………………………..34 FIGURE 2 The consciousness tree, version 2…………………….……………....37 FIGURE 3 The consciousness tree, version 3…………………….……………....42 FIGURE 4 The consciousness tree, version 4….………………….……………...67 FIGURE 5 The consciousness tree, version 5……………………….…………..109 TABLES TABLE 1 Objections to HO-theories…………………………………………….92 CONTENTS ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FIGURES AND TABLES CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 9 1.1 Consciousness and self-awareness ........................................................... 9 1.2 An itinerary ................................................................................................ 13 2 THE PROBLEM OF CONSCIOUSNESS ......................................................... 15 2.1 On method: The return of speculative psychology? ............................ 15 2.2 Consciousness: basic distinctions ........................................................... 22 2.3 The “easy” and “hard” problems of consciousness ............................. 26 2.4 Empirical approaches to consciousness ................................................ 34 3 THE REPRESENTATIONAL THEORY OF CONSCIOUSNESS ................. 42 3.1 Mind and intentionality ........................................................................... 44 3.2 Representational content: narrow or wide ............................................ 50 3.3 Representational content: conceptual or non-conceptual? ................. 57 3.4 Evaluative intentionalism ........................................................................ 62 4 HIGHER-ORDER THEORIES OF CONSCIOUSNESS ................................. 67 4.1 First-order and higher-order representationalism: a first approximation ................................................................................ 67 4.2 Two basic views: HOP and HOT ........................................................... 71 4.3 Intrinsicalism and relationalism ............................................................. 84 4.4 HOR and language ................................................................................... 88 4.5 Appraisal: Insufficiency of HOR in explaining phenomenality ........ 92 4.6 HOP and HOT: a false opposition? ...................................................... 105 5 FORMS AND PROPERTIES OF HIGHER-ORDER CONSCIOUSNESS . 110 5.1 Objects of higher-order representations .............................................. 110 5.2 Psychological issues in higher-order representations ....................... 116 5.3 Mentalized consciousness and other forms of higher-order consciousness .......................................................................................... 122 5.4 The intuition of “givenness of consciousness” ................................... 129 5.5 Contenders and counter-arguments .................................................... 133 6 CONCLUDING REMARKS ........................................................................... 136 YHTEENVETO ........................................................................................................... 142 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................. 147 1 INTRODUCTION
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