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Nietzsche's Kind of Consciousness

Minden Ribeiro, Max LU (2025) In Journal of Nietzsche Studies 56(1). p.67-81
Abstract

This article critically examines two claims Mattia Riccardi ascribes to Nietzsche in his 2021 book Nietzsche’s Philosophical Psychology. The first is that Nietzsche’s main notion of consciousness should be interpreted as Rconsciousness. Rconsciousness is an awareness of a mental state or process that is achieved when that state is linguistically interpreted by another state. This article finds that Riccardi’s account commits to two instances of states becoming conscious and to two kinds of consciousness. The second claim is that Nietzsche advances a pluralism about consciousness, endorsing a perceptual... (More)

This article critically examines two claims Mattia Riccardi ascribes to Nietzsche in his 2021 book Nietzsche’s Philosophical Psychology. The first is that Nietzsche’s main notion of consciousness should be interpreted as Rconsciousness. Rconsciousness is an awareness of a mental state or process that is achieved when that state is linguistically interpreted by another state. This article finds that Riccardi’s account commits to two instances of states becoming conscious and to two kinds of consciousness. The second claim is that Nietzsche advances a pluralism about consciousness, endorsing a perceptual form of consciousness, Pconsciousness, and a qualitative consciousness of sensations, Qconsciousness. As Riccardi’s account offers no criteria for what it takes to be conscious per se, it is unclear what the pluralism he ascribes to Nietzsche amounts to. Moreover, this article finds that Nietzsche offers no positive reason to conceive any candidate mental phenomena as conscious other than those that are linguistically-reflexively conscious.

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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Nietzsche, Riccardi, consciousness, pluralism, higher-order thought (HOT) theory
in
Journal of Nietzsche Studies
volume
56
issue
1
pages
67 - 81
publisher
Penn State University Press
ISSN
0968-8005
DOI
10.5325/jnietstud.56.1.0067
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The article anchors a discussion section, with responses from João Constâncio and Mattia Riccardi
id
c5296f76-b390-4d2e-b6be-a88fd0aefb73
date added to LUP
2025-02-06 21:59:31
date last changed
2025-05-05 14:38:42
@article{c5296f76-b390-4d2e-b6be-a88fd0aefb73,
  abstract     = {{<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; font-size: medium; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif;">This article critically examines two claims Mattia Riccardi ascribes to Nietzsche in his 2021 book<i> Nietzsche’s Philosophical Psychology</i>. The first is that Nietzsche’s main notion of consciousness should be interpreted as <sup>R</sup>consciousness. <sup>R</sup>consciousness is an awareness of a mental state or process that is achieved when that state is linguistically interpreted by another state. This article finds that Riccardi’s account commits to two instances of states becoming conscious and to two kinds of consciousness. The second claim is that Nietzsche advances a pluralism about consciousness, endorsing a perceptual form of consciousness, <sup>P</sup>consciousness, and a qualitative consciousness of sensations, <sup>Q</sup>consciousness. As Riccardi’s account offers no criteria for what it takes to be conscious <i>per se</i>, it is unclear what the pluralism he ascribes to Nietzsche amounts to. Moreover, this article finds that Nietzsche offers no positive reason to conceive any candidate mental phenomena as conscious other than those that are linguistically-reflexively conscious.</p>}},
  author       = {{Minden Ribeiro, Max}},
  issn         = {{0968-8005}},
  keywords     = {{Nietzsche; Riccardi; consciousness; pluralism; higher-order thought (HOT) theory}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{67--81}},
  publisher    = {{Penn State University Press}},
  series       = {{Journal of Nietzsche Studies}},
  title        = {{Nietzsche's Kind of Consciousness}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5325/jnietstud.56.1.0067}},
  doi          = {{10.5325/jnietstud.56.1.0067}},
  volume       = {{56}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}