Jean-Paul Sartre and the HOT Theory of Consciousness

In Section I, I explain some key Sartrean terminology and in Section II, I introduce the HOT theory. Section III is where I argue for the close connection between Sartre’s theory and a somewhat modified version of the HOT theory. That section of the paper is divided into four subsections in which I also address the relevance of Sartre’s rejection of the Freudian unconscious and the threat of an infinite regress in his theory of consciousness. In Section IV, I critically examine what I call ‘the unity problem,’ which has mainly been raised by Kathleen Wider against Sartre. In light of Section III, I attempt to relieve some of Sartre’s difficulties. In Section V, I critically examine a passage from Being and Nothingness containing one of Sartre’s main arguments for his belief that consciousness entails self-consciousness. In Section VI, I show how Sartre and the HOT theory can accommodate so-called ‘I-thoughts’ into the structure of conscious mental states with the help of Wider’s view. Finally, in Section VII, I offer some concluding remarks

Animal Consciousness

This chapter addresses the extent to which nonhuman animals are conscious. Most important perhaps is what criteria should be used in making such a determination

Cotard syndrome, self-awareness, and I-concepts

Various psychopathologies of self-awareness, such as somatoparaphrenia and thought insertion in schizophrenia, might seem to threaten the viability of the higher-order thought (HOT) theory of consciousness since it requires a HOT about one’s own mental state to accompany every conscious state. The HOT theory of consciousness says that what makes a mental state a conscious mental state is that there is a HOT to the effect that “I am in mental state M.” I have argued in previous work that a HOT theorist can adequately respond to this concern with respect to somatoparaphrenia and thought insertion. There is also Cotard syndrome which is a rare neuropsychiatric disorder in which people hold the delusional belief that they are dead, do not exist, or have lost their blood or internal organs. In this paper, I argue that HOT theory has nothing to fear from it either and can consistently account for what happens in such unusual cases. I analyze Cotard syndrome in light of my previous discussion of somatoparaphrenia and thought insertion, and argue that HOT theory can provide a somewhat analogous account without the worry of inconsistency. It is crucial to recognize that there are multiple “self-concepts” and levels of HOTs which can help to provide a more nuanced explanation. With regard to the connection between consciousness and self-consciousness, it is proposed that Cotard patients are indeed capable of having some “I-thoughts” about their bodies and mental states

Line bundles for which a projectivized jet bundle is a product

We characterize the triples (X,L,H), consisting of holomorphic line bundles L and H on a complex projective manifold X, such that for some positive integer k, the k-th holomorphic jet bundle of L, J_k(L), is isomorphic to a direct sum H+...+H. Given the geometrical constrains imposed by a projectivized line bundle being a product of the base and a projective space it is natural to expect that this would happen only under very rare circumstances. It is shown, in fact, that X is either an Abelian variety or projective space. In the former case L\cong H is any line bundle of Chern class zero. In the later case for k a positive integer, L=O_{P^n}(q) with J_k(L)=H+...+H if and only if H=O_{P^n}(q-k) and either q\ge k or q\le -1.Comment: Latex file, 5 page

Fractional Calculus as a Macroscopic Manifestation of Randomness

We generalize the method of Van Hove so as to deal with the case of non-ordinary statistical mechanics, that being phenomena with no time-scale separation. We show that in the case of ordinary statistical mechanics, even if the adoption of the Van Hove method imposes randomness upon Hamiltonian dynamics, the resulting statistical process is described using normal calculus techniques. On the other hand, in the case where there is no time-scale separation, this generalized version of Van Hove's method not only imposes randomness upon the microscopic dynamics, but it also transmits randomness to the macroscopic level. As a result, the correct description of macroscopic dynamics has to be expressed in terms of the fractional calculus.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figur

Unconscious higher-order thoughts (HOTs) as pre-reflective self-awareness?

Rowlands argues that many nonhuman animals are “persons,” contrary to the prevailing orthodoxy which rests on a mistaken conception of the kind of self-awareness relevant to personhood. He argues that self-awareness bifurcates into two importantly different forms — reflective self-awareness and pre-reflective self-awareness — and that many animals can have the latter, which is sufficient for personhood. I agree that there is good reason to think that many animals can have pre-reflective self-awareness, but I think Rowlands is mistaken about its nature. His account runs the risk of leading to an infinite regress objection, and his notion of pre-reflective self-awareness actually sounds more like reflective self-awareness. If Rowlands treats pre-reflective self-awareness as itself conscious, then it is less likely that animals can have even this form of self-awareness

The DCAA Access to Records Offensive - Where will it lead after Westinghouse?

On August ™ 9 T985, the U.S. District Court for the Western H*strict of Pennsylvania in United States v.Westlnghguse Electric Corporation, DCWPA Mo. 11710, held that the Department of Defense Inspector General (DOD IG) could subpoena internal audit reports from Westinghouse Electric Corporation and could authorize the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) to review those reports as part of the DOD IG\u27s investigation. Although Westinghouse subsequently obtained a stay of the district court order, pending appeal to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the case will certainly encourage DCAA to increase its demands for contractors\u27,management data, pursuant to its new found independent subpoena authority