consciousness
is the inside (of the body)
this is intuitively OK - at least initially
where is your mind?
it's not out there -
it's inside
now what can we say of this inside?
firstly can we know it
can we know what it is
what mind is?
it depends - here - on your theory of knowledge -
what I mean is -
if you think knowledge is what is observed
i.e. - what is out there
the answer is no
you cannot observe mind
so yes - consciousness exists
but we cannot know it
end of story
on such a view consciousness is the observer -
not that which is observed
it is the knower
not the known
conscious reflection
consciousness reflecting on itself
just is awareness
awareness of the act of knowing
awareness of awareness
and this is consciousness
so yes we can describe - consciousness as -
awareness
and awareness - as awareness of awareness
but it's just what knowing is
therefore consciousness is not
on this view
an object of knowledge
NB
what this suggests
this reflection of consciousness
the fact of reflection
is that consciousness is its action
or - the act of consciousness is consciousness
(I say suggests this - because - I have so far argued -
consciousness cannot be known)
the point here is that if consciousness is its event -
and this is fully understood
then - the end of substance
and its shadow
and its ghost
consciousness on this view is a kind of action
and this I say metaphorically
or analogically
that is - as if we were talking about an external event
therefore
all such statements about consciousness
characterizations of consciousness
statements from the inside
are best understood as metaphors
- poetic
and thus poetry is the language of consciousness
of the inside
