THE CONCEPT OF CONSCIOUSNESS .4. THE REFLECTIVE MEANING

In this article, which is fourth in a series of six articles, I addres s the fourth concept of consciousness that the Oxford English Dictiona ry (''the OED'') defines in its six main entries under the word consci ousness. I first introduce this fourth concept, the concept of conscio usness(4), by (a) identifying the previous three OED concepts of consc iousness, which I have already discussed in this series of articles, a nd (b) by indicating how that to which we make reference, respectively , by means of those three concepts is related to the referents of the concept of consciousness(4). I then address the latter concept more di rectly by pursuing for the remainder of the article where the OED's fo urth entry leads. Among other things, I am led to consider two competi ng accounts of consciousness(4) that figure prominently in the OED ent ry, namely the intrinsic, self-intimational account of William Hamilto n and the inner-eye, perceptionlike account of John Locke. Both kinds of account are very much with us today.