Ideas from 'Instrospection' by David M. Rosenthal [1998], by Theme Structure

[found in 'MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Sciences' (ed/tr various) [www.? 1998,]].

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16. Persons / C. Self-Awareness / 1. Introspection
Introspection is not perception, because there are no extra qualities apart from the mental events themselves
                        Full Idea: Introspection cannot be a form of perceiving, since that invariably involves sensory qualities, and no qualities occur in introspection other than those of the sensations and perceptions we introspect; there are no additional qualities.
                        From: David M. Rosenthal (Instrospection [1998])
                        A reaction: This sounds pretty conclusive. Presumably introspection is best described as meta-thought rather than perception, which means that it involves beliefs and judgements, rather than new perceptual qualities. It has to be conceptual, and probably linguistic.