In his view, “ “Consciousness ” is a meaningless term that too often misleads us, and it shouldn’t be used in medicine, neuroscience, or philosophy: “Consciousness” is a very vague term and, ultimately, I don’t think it has any useful meaning at all, apart from other categories such as sensation, perception, imagination, reason etc. Aristotle had no distinct term for it. Nor do I think did any of the ancient or medieval philosophers. Consciousness is a modern term that seems to subsume all of the sensate powers of the soul — sensation, perception, sensus communis, imagination, memory, sensory appetite, etc. … The difficulty in defining “consciousness” is well recognized in medicine. For example, I ask medical students and residents who Read More ›