Attention to Unseen Objects

Journal of Consciousness Studies 21 (11-12):41-56 (2014)
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Abstract

Can one pay attention to objects without being conscious of them? Some years ago there was evidence that had been taken to show that the answer is 'yes'. That evidence was inconclusive, but there is recent work that makes the case more compellingly: it now seems that it is indeed possible to pay attention to objects of which one is not conscious. This is bad news for theories in which the connection between attention and consciousness is taken to be an essential one. It is good news for theories (including mine) in which the connection between attention and agency is taken to be essential.

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Christopher Mole
University of British Columbia

Citations of this work

Attention.Christopher Mole - 2010 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Unity in the Scientific Study of Intellectual Attention.Mark Fortney - 2020 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 50 (4):444-459.
Attention, Psychology, and Pluralism.Henry Taylor - 2018 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 69 (4):935-956.
Conceptualizing intellectual attention.Mark Fortney - 2019 - Theory & Psychology 1:1-14.
The centre and periphery of conscious thought.Mark Fortney - 2018 - Journal of Consciousness Studies 25 (3-4):112-136.

View all 11 citations / Add more citations

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What is it like to be a bat?Thomas Nagel - 1974 - Philosophical Review 83 (October):435-50.
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Two concepts of consciousness.David M. Rosenthal - 1986 - Philosophical Studies 49 (May):329-59.
What is it like to be a bat?Thomas Nagel - 2004 - In Tim Crane & Katalin Farkas (eds.), Metaphysics: A Guide and Anthology. Oxford University Press UK.

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