Phenomenal consciousness, access to consciousness and the cognitive unconscious: the problem of correlativity
Philosophy of Science and Technology June 16, 2026 Aleksandr V. Katunin
The article analyzes the relationship between the cognitive unconscious, phenomenal consciousness (subjective experience), and access consciousness (information available for behavioral control and verbal reporting), using N. Block's distinction as a framework. It traces conceptual origins from Descartes and Leibniz through psychoanalysis and the cognitive turn, where the unconscious became understood as automatic information processing influencing behavior, emotions, and thinking without awareness. Experiments with subliminal perception, inattentional blindness, and blindsight demonstrate difficulty correlating neural processing with subjective experience, highlighting attention's role as a filter.