While I'm not sure I agree with anything in this paper (13 page PDF), I have no doubt of Joseph LeDoux's credentials, which means I have to take it seriously whether I agree or not. Here are the important bits: first, "My multistate hierarchical representation model," he writes, "makes memory and conceptualization an essential underpinning of higher-order consciousness." Next, "three forms of mental state consciousness in humans. These are autonoetic (explicit self-awareness of one's existence over time), noetic (explicit awareness of facts and concepts about the world or one's self), and anoetic (implicit awareness of the world)... conscious experience, whether emotional or not, is always preceded by non-conscious (pre-conscious) cognitive processing." Finally, "Autonoetic consciousness is the basis of the conceptions that underlie our greatest achievements as a species – art, music, architecture, literature, science – and our ability to appreciate them (but) it is the enabler of selfishness and greed, mental features that could be our undoing." See more commentaries on LeDoux's paper.
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