There are two ways of solving this problem with Consciousness as an
illusion.
Discussing our opinions of it or testing it in the reality.
1 According to Kant we can have a lot of opinions about the table itself
but we will not know anything about the table itself. We know our
sensations and thoughts about it but we cant bring the table itself into
our brains, nor bring our brains into it. Some are then concerned about
their thoughts in the same way but as René Descartes expressed it “I
think, therefore I am”.
If his thoughts where unreal it would be impossible to question them.
You got to be consciuos to be able to discuss the consciuosnes,
therefore consciuosness is real and not an illiusion
2 Comparing two examples will tell us something about consciuosness in
reality, just like putting an extra table upon the first.
Now how can we look at the consciuosness as a reality?
We know that our brains and our thoughts are real. So what is
consciuosness. Awareness of ourselves?
The brain cannot know anything about the reality but the sensations it
get through our sensible system. Electric signals from our senses. The
brain is making pictures and symbols from the signals about of the world
outside. Tasting a Dr Pepper for example. The pictures are then tested
by the brain by actions ordered from it. (Ordering another one). If the
test fails the picture are redone and tested again. If the test is
granted, the picture is saved in our memory. (The picture of the can and
the picture of the taste is put together). That is how we build up our
database of experiences in our memory about the world out there.
Consciousness is a picture of your unconsciuos thinking in your own
brain, a mirror that show yourself what is there. You can then by some
work make up another picture of your thinking and put the question:
"What if I'm wrong, if my picture of myself is someway distorted? To
think that you need another mirror of your unconsciuos thinking AND your
mirror. You're now conscious about your consciuosness. Next step: You're
then aware that you're consciuos about that you're consciuos about your
consciuosness. STOP. Don't get lost in this madhouse of mind mirrors!
Look down at the floor and follow the way out by the dirt tracks from
former visitors that went through before.
You don't need any more mirrors than these. The primary question is how
to maintain your own thinking. The mirror of consciousness is a tool you
need. To give your thinking quality you also need a roadmap with a goal,
a steering wheel and some gas.
nice journey
Jan-Anders
I think I would tend to agree with you that Consciousness
is the Ground of being, without getting into semantics
about what that means. This brings to my mind the "Nature
of the Ground", a chapter in Aldous Huxley's book " The
Perennial Philosophy" (always a joy to read). In this
treatment of such a Ground, Huxley describes it as
"eternally complete consciousness". What is interesting
is that many writers which Huxley cites, compare this to
God (whatever that word may mean to them). Eckhart
(the real one) describes this as the "Divine Ground".
If one is to strip away all the dogmatic and controlling
parts of a man-made God, it could be that we are left
with Consciousness.
Where I get stuck is where does personal consciousness
come in? At some point, it seems to me that this
Consciousness gets divided up. This may be called an
illusion by some, but it's one hell of an illusion!
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