{"id":{"repo_id":"rice","oai_identifier":"oai:repository.rice.edu:1911/113314"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/rice/oai:repository.rice.edu:1911/113314","repository":{"repo_id":"rice","name":"Rice University","base_url":"https://repository.rice.edu/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Conscious Conceptual Thought","abstract":"In this dissertation I defend the view that the phenomenal character of some conscious experiences is constituted in part by conceptual representations, including conceptual representations which are independent of sensory representations. In Chapter 1 I present an overview of debates in cognitive phenomenology. In Chapter 2 I survey arguments throughout the history of philosophy centered on the non-imageability of certain mental states to demonstrate how purely sensory views of the mind vastly constrain what is thinkable. In Chapter 3 I survey contemporary arguments in the cognitive phenomenology debate, and I provide several arguments in support of cognitive phenomenology focused on introspection on perception, introspection on thinking, and the temporality of thought. In Chapter 4 I analyze tip-of-the-tongue experiences, drawing evidence from the psychology of language production to show that these are experiences in which a subject is conscious of a conceptual representation of the referent of the desired word independent of a phonological representation of the word. In Chapters 5 and 6 I critically analyze the positions of recent empirically informed philosophers who argue that attention and working memory are fundamentally sensory, such that we are never conscious of conceptual representations, or that we are only conscious of them in a limited way. In contrast, I provide a breadth of empirical evidence demonstrating that we can attend to conceptual representations and retain them in working memory, and that we have capacities for doing so independently of sensory representations. In total, I show that phenomenology and psychology are in a mutually confirming agreement, vindicating our introspective intuitions regarding the cognitive richness of experience.","abstract_html":"In this dissertation I defend the view that the phenomenal character of some conscious experiences is constituted in part by conceptual representations, including conceptual representations which are independent of sensory representations. In Chapter 1 I present an overview of debates in cognitive phenomenology. In Chapter 2 I survey arguments throughout the history of philosophy centered on the non-imageability of certain mental states to demonstrate how purely sensory views of the mind vastly constrain what is thinkable. In Chapter 3 I survey contemporary arguments in the cognitive phenomenology debate, and I provide several arguments in support of cognitive phenomenology focused on introspection on perception, introspection on thinking, and the temporality of thought. In Chapter 4 I analyze tip-of-the-tongue experiences, drawing evidence from the psychology of language production to show that these are experiences in which a subject is conscious of a conceptual representation of the referent of the desired word independent of a phonological representation of the word. In Chapters 5 and 6 I critically analyze the positions of recent empirically informed philosophers who argue that attention and working memory are fundamentally sensory, such that we are never conscious of conceptual representations, or that we are only conscious of them in a limited way. In contrast, I provide a breadth of empirical evidence demonstrating that we can attend to conceptual representations and retain them in working memory, and that we have capacities for doing so independently of sensory representations. In total, I show that phenomenology and psychology are in a mutually confirming agreement, vindicating our introspective intuitions regarding the cognitive richness of experience.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Medeiros, Darren Joseph"],"institution":"Rice University","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":"Humanities","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Siewert, Charles"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-04-20","date_published":"2022-04-20","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:10:21Z","subjects":["cognitive phenomenology","consciousness","concepts","metacognition","attention","working memory"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1911/113314","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Siewert, Charles"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Medeiros, Darren Joseph"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2022-09-23T21:00:13Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-09-23T21:00:13Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2022-04-20"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Humanities"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Rice University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["cognitive phenomenology","consciousness","concepts","metacognition","attention","working memory"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/1911/113314"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In this dissertation I defend the view that the phenomenal character of some conscious experiences is constituted in part by conceptual representations, including conceptual representations which are independent of sensory representations. In Chapter 1 I present an overview of debates in cognitive phenomenology. In Chapter 2 I survey arguments throughout the history of philosophy centered on the non-imageability of certain mental states to demonstrate how purely sensory views of the mind vastly constrain what is thinkable. In Chapter 3 I survey contemporary arguments in the cognitive phenomenology debate, and I provide several arguments in support of cognitive phenomenology focused on introspection on perception, introspection on thinking, and the temporality of thought. In Chapter 4 I analyze tip-of-the-tongue experiences, drawing evidence from the psychology of language production to show that these are experiences in which a subject is conscious of a conceptual representation of the referent of the desired word independent of a phonological representation of the word. In Chapters 5 and 6 I critically analyze the positions of recent empirically informed philosophers who argue that attention and working memory are fundamentally sensory, such that we are never conscious of conceptual representations, or that we are only conscious of them in a limited way. In contrast, I provide a breadth of empirical evidence demonstrating that we can attend to conceptual representations and retain them in working memory, and that we have capacities for doing so independently of sensory representations. In total, I show that phenomenology and psychology are in a mutually confirming agreement, vindicating our introspective intuitions regarding the cognitive richness of experience."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Conscious Conceptual Thought"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Siewert, Charles"],"dc:creator":["Medeiros, Darren Joseph"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2022-09-23T21:00:13Z"],"dc:date.available":["2022-09-23T21:00:13Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2022-04-20"],"dc:description.abstract":["In this dissertation I defend the view that the phenomenal character of some conscious experiences is constituted in part by conceptual representations, including conceptual representations which are independent of sensory representations. In Chapter 1 I present an overview of debates in cognitive phenomenology. In Chapter 2 I survey arguments throughout the history of philosophy centered on the non-imageability of certain mental states to demonstrate how purely sensory views of the mind vastly constrain what is thinkable. In Chapter 3 I survey contemporary arguments in the cognitive phenomenology debate, and I provide several arguments in support of cognitive phenomenology focused on introspection on perception, introspection on thinking, and the temporality of thought. In Chapter 4 I analyze tip-of-the-tongue experiences, drawing evidence from the psychology of language production to show that these are experiences in which a subject is conscious of a conceptual representation of the referent of the desired word independent of a phonological representation of the word. In Chapters 5 and 6 I critically analyze the positions of recent empirically informed philosophers who argue that attention and working memory are fundamentally sensory, such that we are never conscious of conceptual representations, or that we are only conscious of them in a limited way. In contrast, I provide a breadth of empirical evidence demonstrating that we can attend to conceptual representations and retain them in working memory, and that we have capacities for doing so independently of sensory representations. In total, I show that phenomenology and psychology are in a mutually confirming agreement, vindicating our introspective intuitions regarding the cognitive richness of experience."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1911/113314"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder."],"dc:subject":["cognitive phenomenology","consciousness","concepts","metacognition","attention","working memory"],"dc:title":["Conscious Conceptual Thought"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Humanities"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"thesis:institution_name":["Rice University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:10:21Z"}