There Are Conscious and Unconscious Agendas in the Brain and Both Are Important—Our Will Can Be Conscious as Well as Unconscious
I have been asked to write a few words on consciousness in this editorial issue. My thoughts on consciousness will focus on the relation between consciousness and will. Consciousness is not an epiphenomenon as some people believe—it is not a psychological construct either. Consciousness is a brain f...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2012-09-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/2/3/405 |
| _version_ | 1811324209374167040 |
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| author | Lüder Deecke |
| author_facet | Lüder Deecke |
| author_sort | Lüder Deecke |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | I have been asked to write a few words on consciousness in this editorial issue. My thoughts on consciousness will focus on the relation between consciousness and will. Consciousness is not an epiphenomenon as some people believe—it is not a psychological construct either. Consciousness is a brain function. With deeper thought it is even more than that—a brain state. Writing this, I am in a conscious state, I hope at least. In every day philosophy, a close connection of consciousness with will is ventured, and is expressed in the term “conscious free will”. However, this does not mean that our will is totally determined and not free, be it conscious or unconscious. Total determinists postulate total freedom from nature in order to speak of free will. Absolute freedom from nature is an a priori impossibility; there is no way to escape from nature. However, we have relative freedom, graded freedom, freedom in degrees, enabling us to make responsible decisions and be captains of our own destiny. We are not totally determined. We can upregulate our degrees of freedom by self-management or we can downregulate them by self-mismanagement. In the present communication consciousness and the unconscious are discussed in their various aspects and interactions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T14:10:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c88be5212f184957bf6731f648a57b1d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T14:10:14Z |
| publishDate | 2012-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-c88be5212f184957bf6731f648a57b1d2022-12-22T02:43:48ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252012-09-012340542010.3390/brainsci2030405There Are Conscious and Unconscious Agendas in the Brain and Both Are Important—Our Will Can Be Conscious as Well as UnconsciousLüder DeeckeI have been asked to write a few words on consciousness in this editorial issue. My thoughts on consciousness will focus on the relation between consciousness and will. Consciousness is not an epiphenomenon as some people believe—it is not a psychological construct either. Consciousness is a brain function. With deeper thought it is even more than that—a brain state. Writing this, I am in a conscious state, I hope at least. In every day philosophy, a close connection of consciousness with will is ventured, and is expressed in the term “conscious free will”. However, this does not mean that our will is totally determined and not free, be it conscious or unconscious. Total determinists postulate total freedom from nature in order to speak of free will. Absolute freedom from nature is an a priori impossibility; there is no way to escape from nature. However, we have relative freedom, graded freedom, freedom in degrees, enabling us to make responsible decisions and be captains of our own destiny. We are not totally determined. We can upregulate our degrees of freedom by self-management or we can downregulate them by self-mismanagement. In the present communication consciousness and the unconscious are discussed in their various aspects and interactions.http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/2/3/405consciousnessthe unconsciousfree willconscious free willfree decisions |
| spellingShingle | Lüder Deecke There Are Conscious and Unconscious Agendas in the Brain and Both Are Important—Our Will Can Be Conscious as Well as Unconscious Brain Sciences consciousness the unconscious free will conscious free will free decisions |
| title | There Are Conscious and Unconscious Agendas in the Brain and Both Are Important—Our Will Can Be Conscious as Well as Unconscious |
| title_full | There Are Conscious and Unconscious Agendas in the Brain and Both Are Important—Our Will Can Be Conscious as Well as Unconscious |
| title_fullStr | There Are Conscious and Unconscious Agendas in the Brain and Both Are Important—Our Will Can Be Conscious as Well as Unconscious |
| title_full_unstemmed | There Are Conscious and Unconscious Agendas in the Brain and Both Are Important—Our Will Can Be Conscious as Well as Unconscious |
| title_short | There Are Conscious and Unconscious Agendas in the Brain and Both Are Important—Our Will Can Be Conscious as Well as Unconscious |
| title_sort | there are conscious and unconscious agendas in the brain and both are important our will can be conscious as well as unconscious |
| topic | consciousness the unconscious free will conscious free will free decisions |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/2/3/405 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT luderdeecke thereareconsciousandunconsciousagendasinthebrainandbothareimportantourwillcanbeconsciousaswellasunconscious |