Conscious Thought

Conscious thought, though often neglected, has been the subject of philosophical inquiry centered on three key issues: what types of mental states qualify as conscious thought and how they might be categorized; whether the consciousness of thought is fundamentally different from other forms of consciousness; and whether consciousness is essential to thought or merely an accidental feature. This chapter offers an opinionated introduction to these debates, exploring possible taxonomies, the nature of cognitive consciousness, and the relationship between consciousness and thought.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Conscious thought has been neglected, but it has not been entirely overlooked. Discussion of the topic has focused on three sets of questions. The first set of questions focuses on the kinds of states (events, episodes) that qualify as forms of conscious thought. What might a taxonomy of conscious thought look like? A second set of questions concerns the kind(s) of consciousness that characterizes thought. Are thoughts conscious in the same fundamental way that other mental phenomena are, or is ‘cognitive consciousness’—that is, the consciousness associated with thought—sui generis? A third set of questions concerns the relationship between consciousness and thought. Is consciousness essential to thought, or is it an accidental and contingent feature of thought—a feature that some thoughts possess but others lack? This chapter provides an opinionated point of entry into these and other questions.