“ Consciousness is the perception of what passes in a man’s own mind. ”
John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689). copy citation
Author | John Locke |
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Source | An Essay Concerning Human Understanding |
Topic | perception consciousness |
Date | 1689 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | |
Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10615/10615-h/10615-h.htm |
Context
“They who talk thus may, with as much reason, if it be necessary to their hypothesis, say that a man is always hungry, but that he does not always feel it; whereas hunger consists in that very sensation, as thinking consists in being conscious that one thinks. If they say that a man is always conscious to himself of thinking, I ask, How they know it? Consciousness is the perception of what passes in a man’s own mind. Can another man perceive that I am conscious of anything, when I perceive it not myself? No man’s knowledge here can go beyond his experience. Wake a man out of a sound sleep, and ask him what he was that moment thinking of.”
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