David M. Rosenthal (1992) Consciousness, Plans, and Language:
. Psycoloquy: 3(32) Consciousness (14)
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Psycoloquy 3(32): Consciousness, Plans, and Language:
CONSCIOUSNESS, PLANS, AND LANGUAGE:
Commentary on Bridgeman on Consciousness
David M. Rosenthal
Ph.D. Program in Philosophy
City University of New York, Graduate School
33 West 42 Street, New York, NY 10036-8099, USA
DROGC@CUNYVM.BITNET
Abstract
There is much in Bridgeman's account that I find
congenial and compelling, especially appealing is Bridgeman's
application of his thesis to the tie between consciousness and
language. Nonetheless, I want to raise some questions about whether
the tie he finds between plans and consciousness actually does
hold. Not all memory and attention is conscious. Although attention
and accessing of memories are required to execute plans, we need
not be at all conscious of the relevant states of memory and
attention. Nor need we be conscious of the objects that those acts
of attention and accessed memories are about. We need not
necessarily appeal to the executing of plans to explain the
important tie between language and consciousness.
Keywords
consciousness, language, plans, motivation, evolution,
motor system.
References
- Bridgeman, Bruce (1992) On the Evolution of Consciousness and Language. PSYCOLOQUY 3 (15) consciousness.1
- Norman, D. A., & Shallice, T. (1980) Attention to action: Willed and automatic control of behavior. University of California, San Diego: Center for Human Information Processing Technical Report 8006.
- Rosenthal, David M. (1990), "Why Are Verbally Expressed Thoughts Conscious?", Report No. 32, Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF), Research Group on Mind and Brain, University of Bielefeld.