David M. Rosenthal (philosopher) - Higher-order Thoughts

Higher-order Thoughts

Rosenthal is best known for his higher-order-thought (HOT) theory of consciousness. He argues that no mental state is conscious if one is not aware of that state; so a mental state is conscious only if one is aware of oneself as being in that state. And he argues that we are aware of mental states that are conscious by having a thought that one is in that state. These higher-order thoughts are seldom conscious thoughts, and they are distinct from the states they are about. The standard mark in everyday contexts and in experimental psychology that distinguishes conscious mental states is that an individual can report the state; we are unable to report mental states that aren't conscious. Rosenthal argues that it's the higher-order thoughts that accompany conscious states that enable us to make such reports; because we have no such higher-order awareness of mental states that aren't conscious, we can't report them. Rosenthal has also argued that the higher-order-thought theory fits well with recent findings in psychology and neuropsychology (Lau and Rosenthal 2011).