The Illusion of Conscious Thought

Some interesting thoughts about consciousness from philosopher Peter Carruthers, particularly for meditators.

In neurophilosophy ... thoughts include only nonsensory mental attitudes, such as judgments, decisions, intentions and goals. These are amodal, abstract events, meaning that they are not sensory experiences and are not tied to sensory experiences. Such thoughts never figure in working memory. They never become conscious.

And we only ever know of them by interpreting what does become conscious, such as visual imagery and the words we hear ourselves say in our heads.

I claim that consciousness is always bound to a sensory modality, that there is inevitably some auditory, visual or tactile aspect to it. All kinds of mental imagery, such as inner speech or visual memory, can of course be conscious. We see things in our mind’s eye; we hear our inner voice. What we are conscious of are the sensory-based contents present in working memory.

Consciousness is generally understood to mean that an individual not only has an idea, recollection or perception but also knows that he or she has it.