WHAT IS CONSCIOUSNESS?
Sumi:
Frederik, many individuals from different disciplines worldwide are intrigued by the problem of consciousness. It seems to me that the problem of consciousness is the Holy Grail of science. What is consciousness in simple terms? To what do we refer when we speak of consciousness?
Frederik:
We need to differentiate between a workable formulation of what we mean by the phenomenon of consciousness and the question of how far the different disciplines have advanced in establishing facts and developed hypotheses to further their investigation and understanding of consciousness.
Sumi:
Are you saying that the different branches of science have different points of interest regarding the phenomenon of consciousness?
Frederik:
They do have different goals. They work with different materials. They use different investigative methods and express their research findings and views in the languages of their own sciences. In addition, there are individuals in each discipline who differ considerably among themselves.
Sumi:
Can you give examples of how different sciences formulate the phenomenon of consciousness?
Frederik:
Let me begin with the basic assessment of documenting a person’s sense of reality or level of conscious orientation used by medical doctors. They ask if the patient is awake, alert and oriented to time, place and person. Typical questions are: What is your name? What day is it? Do you know where you are? There are more sophisticated assessments but this one gives you the general meaning of the term consciousness, viewed from a medical perspective.
Sumi:
How does neurobiology define the phenomenon of consciousness?
Frederik:
Neurobiology wants to know what the neural correlations of the phenomenon of consciousness are. Some neurobiologists define consciousness for instance as a brain state in which a sufficient number of key brain areas for consciousness are synchronously activated.
Sumi:
What about philosophy of mind?
Frederik:
Philosophers may for instance refer to consciousness as phenomenal experience, that is to say, basic subjective experience as well as experiences of more complex brain states. This is a workable definition. Some philosophers of mind however define consciousness as an awareness of internal and external existence. In this definition philosophers relate the term awareness to consciousness and then distinguish it from consciousness which are synonymous terms. These philosophers thus attempt to define consciousness as the unknown factor by using the same unknown factor indirectly. Simply put, they define the unknown by the unknown.
Sumi:
What is Carl Jung’s view on the phenomenon of consciousness?
Frederik:
Jung points out that for an individual to be conscious, one must be concentrated and that one is always conscious of something specific. He says consciousness is like a searchlight wandering over the field and only those points which are illuminated are conscious.
Sumi:
Does Jung have a definition of consciousness?
Frederik:
He defines consciousness as the relation of psychic contents to the ego, in so far as this relation is perceived as such by the ego. Relations to the ego that are not perceived as such are unconscious.
Sumi:
Can you give me an example of a psychic content that is related to the ego but is not perceived as such by the ego?
Frederik:
You drive your car on the open road from one town to another, in deep thought about a problem. When you get to the new town you suddenly realise that you don’t know how you got there. The road simply passed by. You have no recollection of experiencing the environment or the driving process. You were behind the wheel but the experience of driving was not perceived by you as such. You were thus unconscious of these factors. In contrast, you know very well what problem you were considering and trying to unravel while being on the road. You were and still are conscious of those mental processes and their products because they were the content on which you were focussed and thus perceived by the ego as such.
Sumi:
Thank you Frederik.
