factual
Consciousness is an extra datum beyond observation
Beyond the data of observation and experiment, there is an additional datum—consciousness—known not through observation but through immediate first-person awareness of our own feelings; since you cannot see someone's experiences by looking inside their head, a theory aimed only at accounting for observation and experiment would never have reason to postulate consciousness, yet we know with Cartesian certainty that consciousness exists.
factualpending
Speaker
Philip GoffEvidence Quote
“we do know that consciousness exists. We know it from our immediate awareness of our own feelings and experiences. In fact, I think Descartes was right that the reality of consciousness is known with a greater certainty than anything about the external world.”
Created: 6/13/2026, 12:10:44 AM
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