Conscious Thought and The Limits of Restrictivism
Crítica March 21, 2025 Marta Jorba 2 citations
Philosophers debate whether conscious thoughts have a distinctive felt character—cognitive phenomenology—beyond sensory experiences like images or sounds. This paper defends cognitive phenomenology against two restrictivist objections. First, sensory restrictivism claims all conscious experience is sensory; the paper argues that attention cannot fully explain the difference between seeing and thinking. Second, accompanying states views hold that thoughts feel like something only because they are accompanied by sensory experiences. The paper draws on empirical studies by Hurlburt and colleagues that report “unsymbolized thinking”—clear thoughts without any sensory imagery—as evidence for a nonsensory phenomenal character. After addressing criticisms of these studies, the paper concludes that cognitive phenomenology views withstand both restrictivist challenges.