How did Descartes define consciousness?

Consciousness, for Descartes, is an intrinsic property of all thoughts (even of the thoughts of infants) by which the subject becomes aware of the thought itself. While this involves reflection, the reflective thought is not distinct from the initial thought itself.

What did Plato say about consciousness?

But she points out that, long before the explanation of consciousness was put forward in such a scientifically rigorous form, the philosopher Plato expressed the idea that for something to exist, it must capable of having an effect. And so consciousness (or “being,” as Plato described it) is “simply power.”

How does the notions of consciousness and self differ in Locke and Descartes?

Descartes argues that thought is intimately connected with consciousness of the mind and the body. Descartes held the essence of body and mind to be extension and thought. Locke argues that innate ideas do not exist nor are they necessary in a justification of knowledge.

Who coined the term consciousness?

The origin of the modern concept of consciousness is often attributed to Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding, published in 1690. Locke defined consciousness as “the perception of what passes in a man’s own mind”.

Can the mind exist without the body?

It is possible one’s mind might exist without one’s body. One’s mind is a different entity from one’s body.

What are the 5 levels of consciousness?

You will find inside this lesson, underneath the video (above), a schematic drawing of these five levels of Consciousness.

• Level 1: I-AM Consciousness.
• Level 2: Points of View.
• Level 3: The Unconscious / Beliefs.
• Level 4: The Subconscious / Feelings.
• Level 5: The Conscious Mind / Thought.

What are the 3 meanings of consciousness?

Freud divided human consciousness into three levels of awareness: the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.

What did Locke say about the self?

John Locke holds that personal identity is a matter of psychological continuity. He considered personal identity (or the self) to be founded on consciousness (viz. memory), and not on the substance of either the soul or the body.

What does Descartes say about identity?

Descartes’ conception of a person as essentially a thing that thinks means, according to him, that the principle of mereological identity is satisfied very easily by persons. A mind has all the same parts from one time to another for the simple reason that a mind’s only part is itself.

What did Descartes mean by the phrase I think therefore I am?

Cogito, ergo sum
“I think; therefore I am” was the end of the search Descartes conducted for a statement that could not be doubted. He found that he could not doubt that he himself existed, as he was the one doing the doubting in the first place. In Latin (the language in which Descartes wrote), the phrase is “Cogito, ergo sum.”