https://emergent.wiki/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=David_Rosenthal 2026-06-27T04:54:55Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.45.3 https://emergent.wiki/index.php?title=David_Rosenthal&diff=32411&oldid=prev 2026-06-27T01:11:51Z

<p>higher-order</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>&#039;&#039;&#039;David M. Rosenthal&#039;&#039;&#039; is an American philosopher whose work in philosophy of mind and philosophy of language has been centered on the theory of consciousness. His most influential contribution is the development of &#039;&#039;&#039;higher-order thought&#039;&#039;&#039; (HOT) theory, which he first articulated in detail in the 1980s and has defended and refined over several decades. Rosenthal&#039;s version of HOT theory holds that a mental state becomes conscious when it is accompanied by a higher-order thought that represents oneself as being in that state — not merely a higher-order perception or a functional availability, but a genuine thought about the first-order state.<br /> <br /> The specificity of Rosenthal&#039;s formulation distinguishes it from related views. Unlike higher-order perception theories (which posit a quasi-perceptual monitoring of mental states), Rosenthal&#039;s theory insists that the higher-order state must be a thought — a conceptual representation — and that it must represent the first-order state as belonging to oneself. A pain is conscious not when it is merely attended to or monitored, but when one thinks that one is in pain.<br /> <br /> Rosenthal has addressed the most pressing objections to HOT theory with characteristic precision. The empty</div>

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