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Consciousness-Theory “चेतना”-1

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CONSCIOUSNESS

      In the early 19th century the concept was variously considered. Some philosophers regarded it as a kind of substance, or “mental stuff,” quite different from the material substance of the physical world. Others thought of it as an attribute characterized by sensation and voluntary movement, which separated animals and men from lower forms of life and also described the difference between the normal waking state of animals and men and their condition when asleep, in a coma, or under anesthesia (the latter condition was described as unconsciousness). Other descriptions included an analysis of consciousness as a form of relationship or act of the mind toward objects in nature, and a view that consciousness was a continuous field or stream of essentially mental “sense data,” roughly similar to the “ideas” of earlier empirical philosophers.

      The method employed by most early writers in observing consciousness was  introspection—looking within one's own mind to discover the laws of its operation. The limitations of the method became apparent when it was found that because of differing preconceptions, trained observers in the laboratory often could not agree on fundamental observations.

Etymology & Meaning

Etymological Study

 The word ‘conscious’ derives from the Latin words ‘cum’ (‘together with’) and ‘scire’ (‘knowing’). In the original sense, two people who know something together are said to be conscious of it ‘to one another’ one can be conscious ‘to oneself’ of secret shames -

whence the original use of ‘consciousness’ for conscience, the inner accuser silently sharing knowledge of one’s transgressions. This archaic moral sense of ‘consciousness’

 Meaning(s)

• 1 Internal knowledge or conviction, esp. of one's own guilt, innocence, deficiencies, etc.

• 2 The state or fact of being mentally aware of anything; the perception that.

• 3 The state or faculty, or a particular state, of being aware of one's thoughts, feelings, actions, etc.

• 4 The totality of the thoughts, feelings, impressions, etc., of a person or group; such a body of thoughts etc. relating to a particular sphere; a collective awareness or sense.

• 5 The state of having the mental faculties awake and active; the waking state.

-         Oxford Dictionary

Philosophers have used the term ‘consciousness’ for four main topics:

• knowledge in general,

• intentionality,

• introspection (and the knowledge it specifically generates) and

• phenomenal experience. An experience or other mental entity is

-         Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Version 1.0, London: Routledge

Theories & Intrepretations

The behaviourist view

The  failure of introspection to reveal consistent laws led to the rejection of all mental states as proper subjects of scientific study. In behaviourist psychology, derived primarily from work of the American psychologist John B. Watson in the early 1900s, the concept of consciousness was irrelevant to the objective investigation of human behaviour and was doctrinally ignored in research. Neo behaviourists, however, adopted a more liberal posture toward mentalistic states such as consciousness.

Neuro Physiological Mechanisms

That consciousness depends on the function of the brain has been known from ancient times. Although detailed understanding of the neural mechanisms of consciousness has not been achieved, correlations between states of consciousness and functions of the brain are possible.

Levels of consciousness in terms of levels of alertness or responsiveness are correlated with patterns of electrical activity of the brain (brain waves) recorded by an electroencephalograph. During wide-awake consciousness the pattern of brain waves consists of rapid irregular waves of low amplitude or voltage. In contrast, during sleep, when consciousness can be said to be minimal, the brain waves are much slower and of greater amplitude, often coming in periodic bursts of slow waxing and waning amplitude.

Both behavioral levels of consciousness and the correlated patterns of electrical activity are related to the function of a part of the brainstem called the reticular formation. Electrical stimulation of the ascending reticular systems arouses a sleeping cat to alert consciousness and simultaneously activates its brain waves to the waking pattern.

It was once supposed that the neuro physiological mechanisms sub serving consciousness and the higher mental processes must reside in the cortex. It is more likely, however, that the cortex serves the more specialized functions of integrating patterns of sensory experience and organizing motor patterns and that the ascending reticular system represents the neural structures most critically related to consciousness. The brainstem reticular formation should not, however, be called the seat of consciousness. It represents an integrative focus, functioning through its widespread interconnections with the cortex and other regions of the brain.

Unconsciousness

Also called Subconscious, the complex of mental activities within an individual that proceed without his awareness.  Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, stated that such unconscious processes may affect a person's behaviour even though he cannot report on them. Freud and his followers felt that dreams and slips of the tongue were really concealed examples of unconscious content too threatening to be confronted directly.

Some theorists (e.g., the early experimental psychologist Wilhelm Wundt) denied the role of unconscious processes, defining psychology as the study of conscious states. Yet, the existence of unconscious mental activities seems well established and continues to be an important concept in modern psychiatry.

Freud distinguished among different levels of consciousness. Activities within the immediate field of awareness he termed conscious; e.g., reading this article is a conscious activity. The retention of data easily brought to awareness is a preconscious activity; for example, one may not be thinking (conscious) of his address but readily recalls it when asked. Data that cannot be recalled with effort at a specific time but that later may be remembered are retained on an unconscious level. For example, under ordinary conditions a person may be unconscious of ever having been locked in a closet as a child; yet under hypnosis he may recall the experience vividly.

Because one's experiences cannot be observed directly by another (as one cannot feel another's headache), efforts to study these levels of awareness objectively are based on inference; i.e., at most, the investigator can say only that another individual behaves as if he were unconscious or as if he were conscious.

Efforts to interpret the origin and significance of unconscious activities lean heavily on psychoanalytic theory, developed by Freud and his followers. For example, the origin of many neurotic symptoms is held to depend on conflicts that have been removed from consciousness through a process called repression. As knowledge of psycho physiological function grows, many psychoanalytic ideas are seen to be related to activities of the central nervous system. That the physiological foundation of memory may rest in chemical changes occurring within brain cells has been inferred from clinical observations that: (1) direct stimulation of the surface of the brain (the cortex) while the patient is conscious on the operating table during surgery has the effect of bringing long-forgotten (unconscious) experiences back to awareness; (2) removal of specific parts of the brain seems to abolish the retention of specific experiences in memory; (3) the general probability of bringing unconscious or preconscious data to awareness is enhanced by direct electrical stimulation of a portion of the brain structure called the reticular formation, or the reticular activating system. Also, according to what is called brain blood-shift theory, the transition from unconscious to conscious activities is mediated by localized changes in the blood supply to different parts of the brain. These bio psychological explorations have shed new light on the validity of psychoanalytic ideas about the unconscious.

Some Quotations

• ‘all consciousness…is consciousness of something’ (Sartre 1943)

• In a still broader sense, ‘mind’ and ‘consciousness’ are synonyms, as are  ‘being mindful of’ something and ‘being conscious of’

• Descartes’ uses ‘consciousness’ for reflective knowledge.

• Vaisesika Sutra(c. 3rd century BC) claims that ‘Intellect, pleasure, pain, desire, aversion, effort are perceptible by the internal organ’ (Radhakrishnan and Moore 1957: 411).

Buddhism characteristically denies that there are ‘thinking things’ and advocates doctrine of Momentariness