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1、WhatistheUnityofConsciousness?TimBayneandDavidJ.Chalmers1IntroductionAtanygiventime,asubjecthasamultiplicityofconsciousexperiences.Asubjectmightsimultaneouslyhavevisualexperiencesofaredbookandagreentree,auditoryexperiencesofbirdssinging,bodilysensationsofafainthung
2、erandasharppainintheshoulder,theemotionalexperienceofacertainmelancholy,whilehavingastreamofconsciousthoughtsaboutthenatureofreality.Theseexperiencesaredistinctfromeachother:asubjectcouldexperiencetheredbookwithoutthesingingbirds,andcouldexperiencethesingingbirdswi
3、thouttheredbook.Butatthesametime,theexperiencesseemtobetiedtogetherinadeepway.Theyseemtobeunified,bybeingaspectsofasingleencompassingstateofconsciousness.Thisisaroughcharacterizationoftheunityofconsciousness.Thereissomeintuitiveappealtotheideathatconsciousnessisuni
4、fied,andtotheideathatitmustbeunified.Butassoonastheissueisraised,anumberofquestionsimmediatelyarise.(1)Whatistheunityofconsciousness?Whatdoesitmeantosaythatdifferentstatesofconsciousnessareunifiedwitheachother,orthattheyarepartofasingleencompassingstate?Theideaofun
5、ityismultifaceted,andhasbeenunderstoodinmanydifferentwaysbydifferentthinkers.Insomesensesof“unity”,theclaimthatconsciousnessisunifiedmaybeobviousortrivial.Inothersenses,theclaimmaybeobviouslyfalse.Sothefirstprojectinthisareaistodistinguishbetweenvarietiesofunity,an
6、dtoisolatethosevarietiesthatposethemostimportantquestions.(2)Isconsciousnessnecessarilyunified?Somethinkers(DescartesandKant,forexample)havearguedthatsomesortofunityisadeepandessentialfeatureofconsciousness.Onthisview,theconsciousstatesofasubjectarenecessarilyunifi
7、ed:itisimpossibleforPublishedinA.Cleeremans(ed.),TheUnityofConsciousness:Binding,Integration,Dissociation(Oxford,2003).VersionsofthispaperhavebeenpresentedattheASSCconferenceontheunityofconsciousnessinBrussels,ataPewconferenceonthemetaphysicsofhumanbeingsinSyracuse
8、,ataconferenceonneurophenomenologyinBoulder,andintalksatAlabama,Arizona,Barcelona,UniversityCollegeLondon,andWakeForest.Wethankaudiencemembersona
