Definition Of Consciousness

So does consciousness exist outside the brain? Consciousness is defined as the state or quality of awareness, or, of being aware of an external object or something within oneself. Basically being aware enough to understand everything going on around you. Some would argue that consciousness is restricted to the brain and body only. If that were true then the brain would be able to operate outside the body but in reality cannot. Consciousness however, is utilized beyond the brain without any accusations of superstition as hundreds of experiments and millions of testimonials confirm it to be true. One out of many examples include psi researchers Charles Honorton and Diane Ferrari examining 309 precognition experiments carried out by sixty-two investigators involving 50,000 participants in more than two million trials. These studies were significant in showing that people can describe future events, something that can’t be done if our consciousness was so internalized. The odds that these results were not due to chance or random luck, but by actual skill or fact was greater than 10 to the twentieth power to one. Very high odds with a very high sample size representative of the general population for just one out of many experiments and tests. Consciousness is not something contained in our brain or minds but rather it’s an infinite, immediate and omnipresent phenomenon. It’s infinite because it is not confined to specific points in time or places like the brain. It’s immediate

Daniel Bor, a psychological researcher, and author, wrote an article titled “When Do We Become Truly Conscious” published on September 4, 2012 and in this article he discusses the idea of consciousness. Through use of deductive reasoning Bor refers to early opinions viewing consciousness as magic and discusses the science behind demystifying consciousness. Bor also discusses the ethical arguments behind learning for about consciousness. Bor also lists some of the emotional arguments centered on human awareness. Bor’s use of rhetorical strategies is designed to state his opinion in a simple and easily read way.

Matthew Kiyoi Philosophy 100 AA November 12, 2015 Essay 1 Many philosophers have tried to surmise what the nature of the human mind and consciousness is. Is it separate from our physical bodies or does it exist in a completely different part, akin to a soul? Descartes broke down everything that he knew using Cartesian skepticism to reach the point where he could only say that he knew that he was thinking. He argued because he was thinking his mind existed which could be summed up by the phrase cogito, ergo sum or “I think, therefore I exist” (Woody Lecture Notes, Oct. 13). From his conclusion the question of what is doing the thinking arises.

The fascination with consciousness dates back to the time of Plato and Descartes. Since those times the term “consciousness” has spurned controversy in many scientific fields, including the fields of biology, psychology, and neuroscience. However, with the recent advancements in brain imaging technologies, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG), human consciousness has shifted from being a subjective, abstract idea into being a observable scientific phenomenon. As neuroimaging capabilities progress, the public interest in consciousness also grows.

Consciousness allows a person to recognize their existence, and subsequently, to form their essence. The

Thesis: The mind-body problem arises because of the lack of evidence when looking for a specific explanation of the interaction of mental and physical states, and the origin and even existence of them.

Philosophers and psychologists could never quite understand the meaning of consciousness. Thy thought it was time to try something different to get the meaning of consciousness. Henry

It can be very difficult to find a universal proposal that offers a solution to the mind body problem. While solutions to this problem differ greatly, all attempt to answer questions such as: What makes a mental state mental? What is the fundamental nature of the mental? Or more specifically speaking, what makes a thought a thought? Or what makes a pain a pain? In an attempt to answer these questions, many philosophers over the centuries have rejected, proposed, or altered preexisting theories in order to keep up with the thinking and science of their times. Entering the 21st century their still exit a plethora of theories, some stronger than others, which include Cartesian dualism, physicalism,

Consciousness can be defined as one’s awareness of their actions, thoughts, or surroundings. It is the ability to understand things beyond our eyes. And what I mean by that is one can see things through their eyes, but consciousness allows one to comprehend it on a deeper level. It leads to how we behave, how we function.

Consciousness is a state of awareness. This includes a person’s feelings, sensations, ideas, and perceptions. There are many different states of consciousness.

The mind-body problem in philosophy discusses the relationship between consciousness and the brain. Historically, responses have fallen into two categories: Dualism (referring to a discrete distinction between mind and matter) and Monism (referring to the notion that mind and body are aspects of the same of entity). For centuries philosophers have hotly debated solutions to the mind-body problem through philosophical reasoning and rational. However in the 20th century, philosophers have begun to turn to science in an attempt to decipher a solution. For example, the concept of rationality in the mind-body problem has been addressed by psychology as well as making parallels to computer science. Furthermore, recently several Journals have been generated in order to discuss consciousness. However, applying science to the intentionality component of the mind-body problem has not been widely attempted. This may come as a surprise considering intentionality may be one of the most fundamental aspects. The reason for intentionality being so crucial is a result of rationality only existing among intentional states, as well as consciousness may be simply an intentional occurrence. Thus, applying scientific theory rather than philosophical reasoning may result in significant progression in the mind-body problem. Thus far, the most widely agreed upon explanation for intentionality involves the concept that our minds encompass mental representations. That is, we are capable of expressing

Our minds are split into two different areas the conscious and subconscious. The conscious part of the mind is everything that you are able to detect while you are

Susan Schneider wrote in The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness, “anything that we are at a given moment forms part of our consciousness, making conscious experience at once the most familiar and most mysterious aspects of our lives.” Searching for the word consciousness in the dictionary, a definition of ‘the state or quality of awareness, or, of being aware of an external object or something within oneself’ could be found. It can also be described as sentience, awareness, subjectivity, the ability to think or feel, and the executive control of the mind. Many theories of where consciousness comes from have arisen, but there seems to be an underlying theme of what consciousness is, in the broader sense, to most theories.

When we direct the question, “what is mind and does it exist?” to ourselves, the answer seems perfectly clear, because to each person there is nothing closer, more intimate, or more certain than his/her own mind, or themselves. A person is absolutely sure of the existence of his own mind, but the question is, what exactly is one’s mind?

Everyone experiences consciousness, yet no one knows what consciousness really is. French philosopher, Rene Descartes famously said “Cortigo Ergo Sum”, a philosophical proposition meaning, “I think therefor I am” (Tononi 292). What Descartes was implying is that the phenomenon of thought characterizes consciousness. While this claim may be off base, it serves as an integral starting point in the study of consciousness. According to Tononi, consciousness “is what vanishes every night when we fall into dreamless sleep and reappears when we wake up or when we dream.