Nonconceptual self-consciousness and cognitive science

This paper explores some of the areas where neuroscientific and philosophic al issues intersect in the study of self-consciousness. Taking as point of departure a paradox (the paradox of self-consciousness) that appears to blo ck philosophical elucidation of self-consciousness, the paper illustrates h ow the highly conceptual forms of self-consciousness emerge from a rich fou ndation of nonconceptual forms of self-awareness. Attention is paid in part icular to the primitive forms of nonconceptual self-consciousness manifeste d in visual perception, somatic proprioception, spatial reasoning and inter personal psychological interactions. The study of these primitive forms of self-consciousness is an interdisciplinary enterprise and the paper conside rs a range of points of contact where philosophical work can illuminate wor k in the cognitive sciences, and vice versa.