In this paper, a theoretical account of the functional role of consciousness in the cognitive system of normal subjects is developed. The account is based upon an approach to consciousness that is drawn from the phenomenological tradition. On this approach, consciousness is essentially peripheral self-awareness, in a sense to be duly explained. It will be argued that the functional role of cons...

In this paper I examine William James' concept of the 'warmth and intimacy' of bodily self-consciousness and relate it to recent attempts to recast bodily self-consciousness in strictly neural terms. James takes bodily 'warmth and intimacy' to solve a number of problems related to the material and spiritual aspects of self and personal identity. He mentions but does not fully explore the possib...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between medial cortical activation and the presence of self and consciousness in healthy subjects and patients with vegetative state and minimally conscious state using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). EXPERIMENT DESIGN We first conducted two fMRI experiments in healthy subjects to identify brain regions specifi...

This paper aims to analyse egocentric indexicals 'I', 'now', and 'here' as different aspects of the same self-conscious or self-referential act emphasising underlying phenomenological structure essential indexical 'I'. What makes an is not its indexicality but mental state indicated by use. Therefore, interpreting them only in confines language severely limits scope investigation. First, I will...

The informational states which a subject acquires through perception are non-conceptual, or non-conceptualized. Judgements based upon such states necessarily involve conceptualization: in moving from a perceptual experience to a judgement about the world (usually expressible in some verbal form), one will be exercising basic conceptual skills. But this formulation (in terms of moving from an ex...

Recent evidence suggests that multisensory integration of bodily signals involving exteroceptive and interoceptive information modulates bodily aspects of self-consciousness such as self-identification and self-location. In the so-called Full Body Illusion subjects watch a virtual body being stroked while they perceive tactile stimulation on their own body inducing illusory self-identification ...

My epistemic goal in this lecture will be the simplest form of phenomenal selfconsciousness: I want to contribute to a deeper understanding of nonconceptual, pre-reflexive layers in conscious selfrepresentation. Conceptually, I will defend the claim that agency is not part of the metaphysically necessary supervenience-basis for bodily self-consciousness. On the level of new empirical data I wan...

This study examines how self-consciousness is defined and assessed using self-report questionnaires (Self-Consciousness Scale (SCS), Self-Reflection and Insight Scale, Self-Absorption Scale, Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire, and Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale). Authors of self-report measures suggest that self-consciousness can be distinguished by its private/public aspects, its adaptive/mal...

Recent research in cognitive neuroscience using virtual reality, robotic technology and brain imaging has linked self-consciousness to the processing and integration of multisensory bodily signals. This work on bodily self-consciousness has implicated the temporo-parietal, premotor and extrastriate cortex and partly originated in work on neurological patients with different disorders of bodily ...

Empirical approaches on topics such as consciousness, self-awareness, or introspective perspective, need a conceptual framework so that the emerging, still unconnected findings can be integrated and put into perspective. We introduce a model of self-consciousness derived from phenomenology, philosophy, the cognitive, and neurosciences. We will then give an overview of research data on one parti...