The self-awareness of consciousness

pp. 451-464

in: Aron Gurwitsch, The collected works of Aron Gurwitsch (1901-1973) III, Berlin, Springer, 2010

Abstract

When an object is given in experience, the experiencing subject is conscious of the object and has an awareness of this very consciousness of the object. Perceiving a material thing, listening to a musical note, thinking of a mathematical theorem, etc., we are not only conscious of the thing, the note, the theorem, etc., but are also aware of our perceiving, listening, thinking, etc. Thus every act of consciousness is accompanied by an awareness of itself.