The Concept of Consciousness

The object of the following paper is to criticize the current practice which takes behaviour rather than consciousness to be the defining characteristic of psychology. It is argued that consciousness must be regarded as a generic term covering (i) certain specific relations (e.g. intuitive awareness), and (ii) certain specific contents (e.g. sense‐data, mental images, feelings, etc.). Both relations and contents are directly given; both are unique phenomena of sufficient importance, practically as well as theoretically, to deserve systematic study in their own right. The methods available for studying them necessarily include introspection; and this, it is contended, is as valid as any other mode of observation. Detailed instances are given, showing how the neglect of introspective procedures leads to descriptions of human behaviour which are not only incomplete but frequently misleading.