An Acquaintance alternative to Self-Representationalism

Giustina, Anna

doi:10.1007/s11098-022-01868-5

Request a copy

Article (Scientific journals)

An Acquaintance alternative to Self-Representationalism

Giustina, Anna

2022 • In Philosophical Studies, 179 (12), p. 3831 - 3863

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2268/298415

DOI
10.1007/s11098-022-01868-5

Files (1)Send to Details Statistics Bibliography Similar publications

Files

Full Text

Anna Giustina, An acquaintance alternative to self-representationalism.pdf

Author preprint (319.75 kB)

Request a copy

All documents in ORBi are protected by a user license.

Send to

RIS BibTex APA Chicago Permalink X Linkedin

Details

Keywords :

Consciousness; Acquaintance; Representationalism

Abstract :

[en] The primary goal of this paper is to provide substantial motivation for exploring an Acquaintance account of phenomenal consciousness, on which what fundamentally explains phenomenal consciousness is the relation of acquaintance. Its secondary goal is to take a few steps towards such an account. Roughly, my argument proceeds as follows. Motivated by prioritizing naturalization, the debate about the nature of phenomenal consciousness has been almost monopolized by representational theories (first-order and meta-representational). Among them, Self-Representationalism is by far the most antecedently promising (or so I argue). However, on thorough inspection, Self-Representationalism turns out not explanatorily or theoretically better than the Acquaintance account. Indeed, the latter seems to be superior in at least some important respects. Therefore, at the very least, there are good reasons to take the Acquaintance account into serious consideration as an alternative to representational theories. The positive contribution of this paper is a sketch of an account of consciousness on which phenomenal consciousness is explained partly in representationalist terms, but where a crucial role is played by the relation of acquaintance.

Disciplines :

Philosophy & ethics

Author, co-author :

Giustina, Anna ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de philosophie

Language :

English

Title :

An Acquaintance alternative to Self-Representationalism

Publication date :

2022

Journal title :

Philosophical Studies

ISSN :

0031-8116

Publisher :

Springer Science and Business Media B.V.

Volume :

179

Issue :

Pages :

3831 - 3863

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11098-022-01868-5.pdf

Funders :

F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique

Funding text :

For extremely helpful conversations on the topics of this paper I am grateful to Davide Bordini, Arnaud Dewalque, and Uriah Kriegel. I am particularly grateful to Uriah Kriegel and Matt Duncan for generous and extensive comments on a previous draft, as well as to two anonymous referees for Philosophical Studies. The paper also benefitted from being presented in the Brainstorming seminar at the University of Liège and in the online Monthly Phenomenology seminar.

Available on ORBi :

since 10 January 2023

Statistics

Number of views

22 (2 by ULiège)

Number of downloads

2 (0 by ULiège)

More statistics

Scopus citations^®

Scopus citations^®
without self-citations

OpenCitations

OpenAlex citations

Bibliography

Armstrong, D. M. (1968). A Materialist Theory of the Mind. New York: Humanities Press
Aydede, M., and M. Fulkerson (2014). “Affect: Representationalists’ Headache.” Philosophical Studies, 170(2), 175–198 DOI: 10.1007/s11098-013-0206-7
Balog, K. (2012). “Acquaintance and the Mind-Body Problem.” In New Perspectives on Type Identity: The Mental and the Physical, edited by Simone Gozzano and Christopher S. Hill, 16–42. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Block, N. (1995a). “How Many Concepts of Consciousness?” Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 18(2), 272–287 DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X00038486
Block, N. (1995b). “On a Confusion About a Function of Consciousness.” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18 (2): 227–47
BonJour, L. (2000). “Toward a Defense of Empirical Foundationalism.” In Resurrecting Old-Fashioned Foundationalism, edited by Michael R. DePaul. Lanham, Ma: Rowman and Littlefield
BonJour, L. (2003). “A Version of Internalist Foundationalism.” In Epistemic Justification: Internalism vs. Externalism, Foundations vs. Virtues, by Bonjour, L., & Sosa, E. Malden, MA: Blackwell
Bordini, D. (2017). “Not in the Mood for Intentionalism.” Midwest Studies In Philosophy, 41(1), 60–81 DOI: 10.1111/misp.12066
Brown, R. (2010). “Deprioritizing the A Priori Arguments Against Physicalism.” Journal of Consciousness Studies, 17(3–4), 47–69
Byrne, A. (1997). “Some like It Hot: Consciousness and Higher-Order Thoughts.” Philosophical Studies, 86(2), 103–129 DOI: 10.1023/A:1017959107565
Carruthers, P. (2005). Consciousness: Essays from a Higher-Order Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press DOI: 10.1093/0199277362.001.0001
Chalmers, D. J. (2003). “The Content and Epistemology of Phenomenal Belief.” In Consciousness: New Philosophical Perspectives, edited by Quentin Smith and Aleksandar Jokic, 220–72. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press
Chalmers, D. J. (2004). “The Representational Character of Experience.” In The Future for Philosophy, edited by Brian Leiter, 153–81. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Chisholm, R. M. (1957). Perceiving: A Philosophical Study. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press
Churchland, P. M. (2013). Matter and Consciousness, Third Edition (3rd ed.). MIT Press
Coleman, S. (2015). “Quotational Higher-Order Thought Theory.” Philosophical Studies, 172(10), 2705–2733. DOI: 10.1007/s11098-015-0441-1
Coleman, S. (2019). “Natural Acquaintance.” In Acquaintance: New Essays, edited by Jonathan Knowles and Thomas Raleigh, 49–74. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Coleman, S. (2022). “The Ins and Outs of Conscious Belief.” Philosophical Studies 179 (2): 517–48
Crane, T. (2003). “The Intentional Structure of Consciousness.” In Consciousness: New Philosophical Perspectives, edited by Aleksandar Jokic and Quentin Smith, 33–56. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press
Dennett, D. C. (1988). “Quining Qualia.” In Consciousness in Contemporary Science, edited by Anthony J. Marcel and Edoardo Bisiach. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Dennett, D. C. (2016). “Illusionism as the Obvious Default Theory of Consciousness.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 23 (11–12): 65–72
Dretske, F. (1981). Knowledge and the Flow of Information. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press
Dretske, F. (1993). “Conscious Experience.” Mind 102 (406): 263–83
Dretske, F. (1995). Naturalizing the Mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Duncan, M. (2018). “Subjectivity as Self-Acquaintance.” Journal of Consciousness Studies, 25(3–4), 88–111
Duncan, M. (2020). “Knowledge of Things.” Synthese 197 (8): 3559–92. 10.1007/s11229-018-01904-0
Duncan, M. (2021a). “Acquaintance.” Philosophy Compass 16 (3): e12727. 10.1111/phc3.12727
Duncan, M. (2021b). “Experience Is Knowledge.” Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Mind 1: 106–29
Fales, E. (1996). A Defense of the Given. Lanham, Ma: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Fiocco, M. O. (2017). “Knowing Things in Themselves.” Grazer Philosophische Studien, 94(3), 332–358 DOI: 10.1163/18756735-09403003
Frankish, K. (2016). “Illusionism as a Theory of Consciousness.” Journal of Consciousness Studies, 23(11–12), 11–39
Frege, G. (1918). “Thought.” In Logical Investigations, translated by Peter Geach and Robert H. Stoothoff. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
Fumerton, R. (1996). Metaepistemology and Skepticism. 1 vols. Studies in Epistemology and Cognitive Theory. Lanham, Ma: Rowman & Littlefield
Fumerton, R. (2001). “Classical Foundationalism.” In Resurrecting Old-Fashioned Foundationalism, edited by Michael R. DePaul, 3–20. Studies in Epistemology and Cognitive Theory. Lanham, Ma: Rowman and Littlefield.
Fumerton, R. (2009). “Luminous Enough for a Cognitive Home.” Philosophical Studies 142 (1): 67–76
Gennaro, R. J. (2006). “Between Pure Self-Referentialism and the (Extrinsic) HOT Theory of Consciousness.” In Self-Representational Approaches to Consciousness, edited by Uriah Kriegel and Kenneth Williford, 221–48. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Gertler, B. (2001). “Introspecting Phenomenal States.” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 63(2), 305–328 DOI: 10.1111/j.1933-1592.2001.tb00105.x
Gertler, B. (2011). Self-Knowledge. London; New York: Routledge
Gertler, B. (2012). “Renewed Acquaintance.” In Introspection and Consciousness, edited by Declan Smithies and Daniel Stoljar, 89–123. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Giustina, A. (2021). “Introspective Acquaintance: An Integration Account.” European Journal of Philosophy, 1–18
Giustina, A. (2022). “Introspective Knowledge by Acquaintance.” Synthese 200 (2): 128. 10.1007/s11229-022-03578-1
Hasan, A. (2013). “Phenomenal Conservatism, Classical Foundationalism, and Internalist Justification.” Philosophical Studies, 162(2), 119–141 DOI: 10.1007/s11098-011-9751-0
Hellie, B. (2007). “Higher-Order Intentionality and Higher-Order Acquaintance." Philosophical Studies, 134(3), 289–324 DOI: 10.1007/s11098-005-0241-0
Hill, C. S. (2016). “Replies to Byrne, McGrath, and McLaughlin.” Philosophical Studies, 173(3), 861–872. DOI: 10.1007/s11098-015-0616-9
Hofmann, F. (2014). “Non-Conceptual Knowledge.” Philosophical Issues, 24(1), 184–208 DOI: 10.1111/phis.12030
Horgan, T., and U. Kriegel (2007). “Phenomenal Epistemology: What Is Consciousness That We May Know It so Well?” Philosophical Issues, 17(1), 123–144 DOI: 10.1111/j.1533-6077.2007.00126.x
Jackson, F. (1977). Perception: A Representative Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
James, W. (1890). The Principles of Psychology. London: Macmillan
Kammerer, F. (2016). “The Hardest Aspect of the Illusion Problem–and How to Solve It.” Journal of Consciousness Studies, 23(11–12), 124–139
Kidd, C. (2011). “Phenomenal Consciousness with Infallible Self-Representation.” Philosophical Studies, 152(3), 361–383 DOI: 10.1007/s11098-009-9444-0
Kind, A. (2014). “The Case against Representationalism about Moods.” In Current Controversies in Philosophy of Mind, edited by Uriah Kriegel, 113–34. London; New York: Routledge
Kriegel, U. (2002). “PANIC Theory and the Prospects for a Representational Theory of Phenomenal Consciousness.” Philosophical Psychology, 15(1), 55–64 DOI: 10.1080/09515080120109414
Kriegel, U. (2003a). “Consciousness as Intransitive Self-Consciousness: Two Views and an Argument.” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 33 (1): 103–32
Kriegel, U. (2003b). “Is Intentionality Dependent upon Consciousness?” Philosophical Studies 116 (3): 271–307
Kriegel, U. (2007). “Intentional Inexistence and Phenomenal Intentionality.” Philosophical Perspectives 21 (1): 307–40
Kriegel, U. (2009). Subjective Consciousness: A Self-Representational Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Kriegel, U. (2011a). “Self-Representationalism and the Explanatory Gap.” In Consciousness and the Self: New Essays, edited by JeeLoo Liu and John Perry, 51–75. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511732355.003
Kriegel, U. (2011b). The Sources of Intentionality. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press
Kripke, S. A. (2011). “The First Person.” In Philosophical Troubles. Collected Papers Vol I, edited by Saul A. Kripke, 292–321. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Levine, J. (2001). Purple Haze: The Puzzle of Consciousness. Oxford: Oxford University Press DOI: 10.1093/0195132351.001.0001
Levine, J. (2006). “Conscious Awareness and (Self-)Representation.” In Self-Representational Approaches to Consciousness, edited by Uriah Kriegel and Kenneth Williford, 173–98. MIT Press
Levine, J. (2015). “A Quasi-Sartrean Theory of Subjective Awareness.” In Pre-Reflective Consciousness: Sartre and Contemporary Philosophy of Mind, edited by Sofia Miguens, Clara Bravo Morando, and Gerhard Preyer, 242–62. London: Routledge
Levine, J. (2018). Quality and Content: Essays on Consciousness, Representation, and Modality. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press
Levine, J. (2019). “Acquaintance Is Consciousness and Consciousness Is Acquaintance.” In Acquaintance: New Essays, edited by Jonathan Knowles and Thomas Raleigh, 33–48. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press
Lycan, W. G. (1996). Consciousness and Experience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
McClelland, T. (2020). “Self-Representationalist Theories of Consciousness.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Consciousness, edited by Uriah Kriegel, 458–81. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press
McGinn, C. (2008). “Consciousness as Knowingness.” The Monist, 91(2), 237–249 DOI: 10.5840/monist20089123
Millikan, R. G. (1984). Language, Thought, and Other Biological Categories. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press DOI: 10.7551/mitpress/4124.001.0001
Millikan, R. G. (1993) White Queen Psychology and Other Essays for Alice. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press
Nagel, T. (1974). “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” The Philosophical Review, 83(4), 435–450 DOI: 10.2307/2183914
Neander, K. (1998). “The Division of Phenomenal Labor: A Problem for Representational Theories of Consciousness.” Philosophical Perspectives, 12, 411–434
Papineau, D. (2002). Thinking About Consciousness. Oxford: Oxford University Press DOI: 10.1093/0199243824.001.0001
Papineau, D. (2006). “Phenomenal and Perceptual Concepts.” In Phenomenal Concepts and Phenomenal Knowledge: New Essays on Consciousness and Physicalism, edited by Torin Alter and Sven Walter, 111–44. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press
Raleigh, T. (2019). “The Recent Renaissance of Acquaintance.” In Acquaintance: New Essays, edited by Jonathan Knowles and Thomas Raleigh, 1–31. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Rosenthal, D. M. (1986). “Two Concepts of Consciousness.” Philosophical Studies, 49(3), 329–359 DOI: 10.1007/BF00355521
Rosenthal, D. M. (1997). “A Theory of Consciousness.” In The Nature of Consciousness: Philosophical Debates, edited by Ned Block, Owen J. Flanagan, and Güven Güzeldere, 729–53. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Rosenthal, D. M. (2005). Consciousness and Mind. Oxford: Clarendon Press
Russell, B. (1910). “Knowledge by Acquaintance and Knowledge by Description.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 11: 108–28
Russell, B. (1912). The Problems of Philosophy. New York: H. Holt and Company
Schwitzgebel, E. (2011). Perplexities of Consciousness. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press DOI: 10.7551/mitpress/8243.001.0001
Searle, J. (1983). Intentionality: An Essay in the Philosophy of Mind. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139173452
Sturgeon, S. (2000). Matters of Mind: Consciousness, Reason and Nature. London: Routledge
Tye, M. (1995). Ten Problems of Consciousness: A Representational Theory of the Phenomenal Mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press DOI: 10.7551/mitpress/6712.001.0001
Tye, M. (2008). Consciousness Revisited: Materialism Without Phenomenal Concepts. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Weisberg, J. (2008). “Same Old, Same Old: The Same-Order Representation Theory of Consciousness and the Division of Phenomenal Labor.” Synthese, 160(2), 161–181 DOI: 10.1007/s11229-006-9106-0
Weisberg, J. (2020). “Higher-Order Theories of Consciousness.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Consciousness, edited by Uriah Kriegel, 438–57. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press
Williford, K. (2015). “Representationalisms, Subjective Character, and Self-Acquaintance.” In Open MIND, edited by Thomas Metzinger and Jennifer M. Windt, 39:1–27. Frankfurt am Main: MIND Group
Williford, K. (2019). “Self-Acquaintance and Three Regress Arguments.” ProtoSociology 36: 368–412. 10.5840/protosociology20193615
Zahavi, D. (2005). Subjectivity and Selfhood: Investigating the First-Person Perspective. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press DOI: 10.7551/mitpress/6541.001.0001
Zahavi, D. (2014). Self and Other: Exploring Subjectivity, Empathy, and Shame. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press
Zahavi, D. and U. Kriegel. (2015).“For-Me-Ness: What It Is and What It Is Not.” In Philosophy of Mind and Phenomenology: Conceptual and Empirical Approaches, edited by D. Dahlstrom, A. Elpidorou, and W. Hopp, 36–53. Routledge