William James – five primary characteristics of consciousness
Written on March 19, 2007
In The Principles of Psychology, William James describes five primary characteristics of consciousness.
According to James, consciousness is
- subjective and private
- constantly changing
- continuous
- noetic (has function of knowing, intentionality, content)
- characterized by selective attention
[cited in Consciousness Studies: Cross-Cultural Perspectives by K. Ramakrishna Rao, McFarland & Co., 2002, p. 33-46]
Filed in: consciousness.
Interesting to know.