A theory about Thinking

Now, this post was inspired by a recent argument my sister was having on facebook with some people. I'm going to try to make it as simple as possible.

In studies of philosophy we come across the question, How can we know that others are conscious? Can we know that others are conscious? Are others conscious?

In order to answer this question we have to take several steps. However for those who can't be bothered to read the entire post, my theory is this: We know others are conscious because they think and thinking is physical. For the others, read on.

"I think, therefore I am," said Rene Descartes. Now it used to be the case I would take this important argument as the basis for everything. That is, i would take it to be the basic framework for all the rest of my experience. There are at least two ways of looking at it. Firstly, Descartes said that the mind is a sort of substance, thus he developed the idea of the mind/body duality; the Cartesian Duality. Therefore, the mind being a substance, we exist because we use our mind to think, and thinking IS this substance. Secondly, there is the idea of Cartesian Doubt. This is where thinking is certain because if we doubt that we think, we are still thinking. Therefore thinking is a fundamental given, because we cannot doubt we think. This leads me to the idea that thinking is physical. And it also leads me to think that the body is necessarily connected to thinking.

Now consciousness, ie. 'awareness' is not a given, that is, there are some people on earth who may not realise they are conscious. I believe that I am conscious, but the question I have had to ask is "How do i know i am conscious?" To me consciousness is like the moon. It orbits around the earth of my thinking. But how can i know that i am conscious unless i am aware that i am thinking? Consciousness and thinking are separate. Consciousness is separate from thinking. We can either be in pain or a state of pleasure, but consciousness does not care. Whatever we feel and whatever we think, consciousness will always be there watching without an opinion. It does not think. It does not think, "My body is in pain so i will not be conscious." It is there all through our lives.

So then, I have realised that i am a thinking being and the behaviour that comes from that thinking causes me to realise that i am conscious. It is like in psychology which believes our actions can tell us something about what is going on in our mind. Except it is personal. I realise i am conscious because my thinking and thus behaviour suggests it. Nothing more. If i was not aware i was thinking then i would not be aware that i was conscious. (Sorry for saying 'conscious' a lot!).

And then, in my efforts to obtain knowledge of the awareness of others, i have to realise that they are thinking beings. Now thinking is physical, as proved by Descartes above. So in essence when i see another person and watch them behaving, through words and through actions, i am really watching them think. I know they think because their behaviour tells me so. In conclusion, to watch them thinking (through behaviour) I can infer that they are conscious. Essentially, when, for example, we converse with others we are sharing a conscious realm. It is a shared consciousness.

In essence, and to finish off, here is my argument:

I think, therefore I am.

I am conscious because I think.

Thinking is physical.

Other people think and are physical.

Other people are conscious because they think and they are physical.

What i have written here is an ARGUMENT. It is not necessarily the actual situation. Please, therefore, feel free to point out any fallacies, or errors.

Thank you.

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