Contents
Contents
vi
Preface
ix
Introduction
1 Attention regained
2 The nature of attention, and how it shapes consciousness
3 Attention and philosophy
4 Methods
5 Reading guide
1
1
3
4
8
10
Part I. What is attention?
Chapter 1. Beyond Brain Mechanisms
1 The scientific “discovery” of attention
2 The folk-psychological matrix
3 The scientific matrix
4 What is attention?
5 Identifying reductionism
6 Is attention like memory?
7 Why reductionism is probably false: an empirical argument
8 Is ‘attention’ just a label?
9 Attention is a subject level phenomenon
3
3
5
8
11
14
16
18
24
25
Chapter 2. Attending
1 The central phenomenon of attention
2 Varieties of attention
3 The puzzle of perceptual agency
4 The puzzle solved
5 Voluntarism and intentionalism
6 What follows from voluntarism?
7 Are activities subject-caused events?
31
31
32
35
37
40
42
44
Chapter 3. Activities
1 Two characteristics of activities
2 Attention is an activity I: temporal shape
3 Changes in attending
4 Structured processes
5 Attention is an activity II: guiding form
47
47
49
57
58
61
Chapter 4. Priority Structures
1 Priorities and mental structure
2 Why the priority structure view?
3 Priority structures: the basics
4 Priority systems
5 Attending to something
6 Ways of attending
67
67
69
71
76
80
83
vii
7 Occupants of attention
8 Constitutive priority structures
84
88
Chapter 5. The What and Why of Priority Structures
1 Interpretation and functional role
2 How to interpret priority structures
2.1 Priorities I: reductionism or primitivism?
2.2 Priorities II: comparative or absolute?
2.3 Psychological parts: propositional vs. priority partitioning
2.4 Priority systems: local or global?
3 The functional role of priority structures
3.1 Information pruning vs. prioritizing
3.2 Prioritization and behavioral decoupling
3.3 Prioritization and selection for action
91
91
92
92
95
99
102
106
106
109
111
Chapter 6. Psychological Salience
1 The passive dynamics of attention
2 Attention guidance in the Posner cuing paradigm
3 Varieties of passive attention
4 Passive attention is subject level guided
5 Constraints on a theory of psychological salience
6 The imperatival account I: the basics
7 The imperatival account II: update rules for priority structures
8 The imperatival account III: salience maps
9 Beyond perception. How passive is mind-wandering?
115
115
117
119
120
124
128
130
132
134
138
Appendix: Encapsulation and motivational penetrability
Chapter 7. Executive Control
1 Active attention: a paradigmatic mental action
2 Deliberation, Judgment and Choice
3 Goals, Plans, and Execution Strategies
4 Online execution and fine-grained attunement
5 Effortful attention
6 Attention and self-control
141
141
143
146
149
151
153
Part II. Attention and Consciousness
Chapter 8. Beyond Appearances
1 The phenomenal contributions of attention
2 Can the phenomenal contributions of attention be deflated?
3 Deflating the deflationary view
4 How attention affects appearances
5 The appearance view
6 The appearance view and intentionalism
7 Phenomenal uniqueness and attentional appearances
8 Attention is not like a camera lens
9 Why probably no attentional appearance view is correct
10 The replication argument against the appearance view
10.1 Replicability
10.2 Difference
10.3 Summary
Appendix: Did Husserl make a similar argument?
159
159
161
162
164
166
168
170
171
177
178
180
183
187
188
viii
Contents
Chapter 9. Phenomenal Structure
1 Intelligible perspectives
2 Structured building
3 Priority and centrality
4 Phenomenal structure or modes of consciousness?
5 Centrality systems: center, field, and fringe
6 Phenomenal structure in conscious thought
7 Center, thematic field, and margin
8 Centrality systems: local or global?
9 Phenomenal holism?
Appendix: Precursors
191
191
193
194
197
200
204
207
211
212
219
Chapter 10. Phenomenal Salience
1 From attentional flow to the flow of consciousness
2 Felt motivational impact
3 The contingent capture argument
4 Phenomenally encoded imperatives
5 Phenomenal salience and the flowing stream
223
223
226
228
234
235
Chapter 11. Awareness of Attending
1 Outward attention, inward awareness
2 Introspective attention?
3 Agentive Awareness
4 Agentive Attention Awareness
5 A pushmi-pullyu account of agentive attention awareness
6 Introspective knowledge of attention
239
239
240
243
247
249
254
256
Appendix: Extramission. Does attention stretch the surrounding air?
Chapter 12. Necessity and Sufficiency
1 Two claims about the relationship between attention and consciousness
2 The many sufficiency claims
3 Against focal sufficiency
3.1 Blindsight
3.2 Masking
4 The many necessity claims
5 Empirical data on priority system necessity
5.1 Inattentional blindness
5.2 Counterevidence?
5.3 Hemineglect
6 Phenomenal Consciousness or Accessible Phenomenal Consciousness?
259
259
260
263
263
264
265
269
269
271
272
275
Chapter 13. The Perspectivity Picture
1 Consciousness: passive encounter or engaged perspective?
2 Metaphysically neutral essence claims
3 The perspectivity picture
4 Attention and phenomenal unity
5 Attention and phenomenal perspectivity
6 Attention and phenomenal subjectivity
7 Against subtraction
8 Summary and conclusion
277
277
279
281
285
289
296
301
303
304
Appendix: Attention, phenomenal unity and split brains
Bibliography
311