Consciousness, Subjectivity, and Gradedness

• Authors: Jakub Jonkisz

Abstracts

EN

The article suggests answers to the questions of how we can arrive at an unambiguous characterization of consciousness, whether conscious states are coextensive with subjective ones, and whether consciousness can be graded and multidimensional at the same time. As regards the first, it is argued that a general characterization of consciousness should be based on its four dimensions: i.e., the phenomenological, semantic, physiological and functional ones. With respect to the second, it is argued that all informational states of a given organism are subjective (as they are biologically individuated), but not all are necessarily conscious. Finally, where the third question is concerned, in each of the four dimensions of consciousness a graded element is identified: quality of information in the phenomenological one, abstractness in the semantic one, complexity in the physiological one, and usefulness in the functional one. The article also considers certain consequences of the solutions proposed, as well as some practical applications of the 4D-view of consciousness.

Keywords

EN

graded consciousness; individuated information; subjectivity; dimensions of consciousness

• Publisher: Polskie Towarzystwo Semiotyczne
• Journal: Studia Semiotyczne
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 35
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 9-34

Contributors

author

Jakub Jonkisz

• Jagiellonian University, Institute of Psychology, Consciousness Lab

Identifiers

DOI

10.26333/sts.xxxv1.02

Biblioteka Nauki

1797176