Document Type : Scientific extension

Authors

• Fatemeh Abbasi ¹
• Hossein Zamaniha ²

¹ M.A. in Islamic philosophy, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Wisdom, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.

² Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Wisdom, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Nowadays, discussion about self-consciousness as one of the fundamental kinds of consciousness, has received special attention especially in the field of philosophy of mind and cognitive sciences. The discussion about self-consciousness is the axis around which several questions have been emerged. One of the most important of these questions is whether self-consciousness precedes other-consciousness[1] (consciousness of other beings and humans in the external world), or self-consciousness is something that is formed and evolves implicitly along with our consciousness of other beings.  In response to this question two opposing views has emerged. One of them is a view which believes that self-consciousness is an innate characteristic which accompanies human being from his birth without any intermediary. This view is usually referred to as the traditional (Cartesian) view. The other is a view that is popular today in the field of cognitive science and philosophy of mind, based on which self-awareness is an acquired characteristic that expands and evolves through communication with the world and other humans. Avicenna and Descartes are among the founders and proponents of the first view and Kriegel, Baker, Damasio and Rochat are among the most important proponents of the second view. One of the most important criticisms of the first view, that is, the priority of self-consciousness over other kinds of consciousness namely consciousness of external world and others, is the incompatibility of this view with empirical evidence and the lack of attention to the different levels of self-awareness and its evolution. And one of the most important criticisms of the second view is the ambiguity in the ontological foundations of this view, including the ambiguity in the nature and truth of "self" as well as the lack of philosophical foundations for the explanation of the evolution of the truth of "self" and, consequently, self-consciousness.
 

1. In this paper we use the term other-consciousness in contrast to self-consciousness for emphasizing on our consciousness of other beings and humans in the external world.

Keywords

• self-consciousness
• other-consciousness
• levels of self-consciousness
• embodiment
• developmental approach to self-consciousness

Main Subjects

• philosophy