Rosenthal, David (2025) Higher-Order Theories of Consciousness. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Many perceptions, thoughts, and emotions occur consciously. But many others occur without being conscious. Higher-order (HO) theories of consciousness seek to explain how mental states that are conscious differ from those that are not. That would tell us what it is for a mental state to be conscious. All HO theories rest on the commonsense observation that whenever a mental state is conscious, one is in some way aware of being in that state. So they see awareness of being in a mental state as a necessary condition for that state to be conscious. The reliance on this condition distinguishes HO theories from other theories of consciousness. There are several versions of a HO theory, which differ mainly in how they explain our awareness of mental states when those states are conscious.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Rosenthal, David davidrosenthal1@gmail.com 0000-0002-9323-0424
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Psychology > Developmental Psychology
Depositing User:	Professor David Rosenthal
Date Deposited:	19 Oct 2025 18:00
Last Modified:	19 Oct 2025 18:00
Item ID:	26965
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Psychology > Developmental Psychology
Date:	18 October 2025
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/26965

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