Abstract

We can share our subjective  experiences with others, but only by reflecting upon the contents of our consciousness. Without such reflection consciousness seems to be a very private matter. Introspection cannot be applied to the minds of others. And yet, in English at least, the word consciousness used to imply sharing. It derives from the Latin conscio, I know together (medviden in Danish?). Here, I want to suggest that sharing knowledge is a feature of consciousness even when we are not reflecting upon our experiences and deliberately sharing them. 

I start from the observation that, when we move through the environment, we experience a stationary and objective world. This representation emerges from complex sub-personal computations in which corollary discharge signals are used to take account of the effects of our movements on our perception. Given our belief that this representation is objective, we take it for granted that other agents have the same representation. Thus, our subjective experience of space becomes a form of common knowledge that is critical for successful coordination.

About the speaker

Chris Frith, Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology, Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL and Honorary Research Fellow, Institute of Philosophy, University of London

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