Single Idea 7886

[catalogued under 15. Nature of Minds / B. Features of Minds / 1. Consciousness / f. Higher-order thought]

Full Idea

Actualist HOT theories face an awkward problem with memory judgements: ...how can an earlier mental state be rendered conscious by some later act of memory? As when I see a red pillar box with no higher-order judgement, and then recall it later.

Gist of Idea

Actualist HOT theories imply that a non-conscious mental event could become conscious when remembered

Source

David Papineau (Thinking about Consciousness [2002], 7.11)

Book Reference

Papineau,David: 'Thinking about Consciousness' [OUP 2004], p.206


A Reaction

[See 7886 for 'Actualist' HOT theories] This is not altogether absurd. A red pillar box could be somewhere in my field of vision, and then I might suddenly become conscious of it (if it moved!). Police interrogation reminds me of what I only glimpsed.

Related Idea

Idea 7886 Actualist HOT theories imply that a non-conscious mental event could become conscious when remembered [Papineau]