?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=On+A+Confusion+About+a+Function+of+Consciousness&rft.creator=Block%2C+Ned&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Mind&rft.description=Consciousness+is+a+mongrel+concept%3A+there+are+a+number+of+very+different+%22consciousnesses.%22+Phenomenal+consciousness+is+experience%3B+the+phenomenally+conscious+aspect+of+a+state+is+what+it+is+like+to+be+in+that+state.+The+mark+of+access-consciousness%2C+by+contrast%2C+is+availability+for+use+in+reasoning+and+rationally+guiding+speech+and+action.+These+concepts+are+often+partly+or+totally+conflated%2C+with+bad+results.+This+target+article+uses+as+an+example+a+form+of+reasoning+about+a+function+of+%22consciousness%22+based+on+the+phenomenon+of+blindsight.+Some+information+about+stimuli+in+the+blind+field+is+represented+in+the+brains+of+blindsight+patients%2C+as+shown+by+their+correct+%22guesses%2C%22+but+they+cannot+harness+this+information+in+the+service+of+action%2C+and+this+is+said+to+show+that+a+function+of+phenomenal+consciousness+is+somehow+to+enable+information+represented+in+the+brain+to+guide+action.+But+stimuli+in+the+blind+field+are+BOTH+access-unconscious+and+phenomenally+unconscious.+The+fallacy+is%3A+an+obvious+function+of+the+machinery+of+access-consciousness+is+illicitly+transferred+to+phenomenal+consciousness.&rft.date=1996&rft.type=Preprint&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F231%2F1%2F199712004.html&rft.identifier=++Block%2C+Ned++(1996)+On+A+Confusion+About+a+Function+of+Consciousness.++%5BPreprint%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F231%2F