Awareness and identification of self

Abstract

The higher-order thought (HOT) theory holds that a state's being conscious consists in one's having a suitable thought that one is, oneself, in that state. The HOT theory explains not only how we are aware of our conscious mental states, but also how it is that we are thereby aware of ourselves. This chapter shows how HOTs can accommodate essentially indexical awareness of oneself without invoking any special, antecedent self-awareness. It argues that a crucial assumption that underlies the claim of immunity to error through misidentification is unfounded, namely, the assumption that no self-identification figures in our awareness of our own conscious states. Finally, the chapter discusses the particular kind of identification of self that figures in our higher-order awareness of our conscious states and how that relates to the self-identification that underlies our first-person thoughts generally.