1

Mind Language and Action Group MLAG – Institute of Philosophy,

University of Porto, Portugal

ProtoSociology An International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and

Project, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt a. M., Germany

Project/Book

Sofia Miguens, Clara Bravo Morando,

Gerhard Preyer Eds.

PRE-REFLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS

Early Sartre in the Context of Contemporary

Philosophy of Mind

Ce qu‘on peut nommer proprement subjectivité, c'est la

conscience (de) conscience. 

Jean-Paul Sartre1

1
J. P. Sartre, L‘être et le néant, Paris: Gallimard, 1943, 29.
 2

Contents
Foreword

Introduction

Back to Pre-reflectivity

Sofia Miguens, Clara Bravo Morando, Gerhard Preyer

I Foundations of the Mental

1 Why we should think that Self-Consciousness is non-reflective  

Manfred Frank

2 Is Subjectivity First-Personal?
Tomis Kapitan

3 Degrees of Self-Presence: Rehabilitating Sartre’s Accounts of

Pre-Reflective Self-Consciousness and Reflection
Kenneth Williford

4 Sartre on Pre-Reflective Consciousness: The Adverbial Interpretation

Mark Rowlands

5 Pre-reflective Time-Consciousness
The Shortcomings of Sartre and Husserl and a possible Way out
Gerhard Seel
 3

II I-Knowledge (-Thought), Perception and Introspection

6 The Zero Point and I

Terry Horgan and Shaun Nichols

7 A Sketch of Sartre’s Error Theory of “Introspection”

Matthew C. Eshleman

8 A Pebble at the Bottom of the Water

Sartre and Cavell on the Opacity of Self-knowledge
Pierre-Jean Renaudie

9 Does Consciousness Necessitate Self-Awareness?

Consciousness and Self-Awareness in Sartre’s
The Transcendence of the Ego
Daniel R. Rodríguez Navas

10 Perception and Imagination A Sartrean Account

Uriah Kriegel

III Pre-reflectivity disputed

11Do we need Pre-reflective Self-consciousness? About Sartre and

Brentano
Eric Tremault
 4

12 Sartre’s Non-Egological Theory of Consciousness

Joshua Tepley

13 The 'of' of Intentionality and the 'of' of Acquaintance

Rocco J. Gennaro

14 A “Quasi-Sartrean” Theory of Subjective Awareness

Joseph Levine

IV The Body as a Whole, the Others and the Disorders of the Mental

15 Pain: Sartre and Anglo-American Philosophy of Mind

Katherine J. Morris

16 Sartre, Enactivism, and the Bodily Nature of Pre-reflective

Consciousness
Kathleen Wider

17 The Body is structured like a Language. Reading Sartre’s Being and

Nothingness
Dorothée Legrand

18 Basic Forms of Pre-Reflective Self-Consciousness: a Developmental

Perspective
Anna Ciaunica
 5

19 Ego-disorders in Psychosis - Dysfunction of Pre-reflective Self-

awareness?
Andreas Heinz

IV Background: History of Philosophy

20 Sartre’s Critique of Husserl

Jonathan Webber

21 Radical Epokhè:
On Sartre’s concept of “pure reflection”
Raoul Moati

22 Sartre and Kierkegaard on Consciousness and Subjectivity

Iker Garcia

23 Invisible Ghosts: Les Jeux Sont Fait and Disembodied Consciousness

Jeremy Ekberg

Index
 6

Foreword

The project which gave rise to this book developed in the context of a
cooperation between the University of Porto and the Goethe Universität –
Frankfurt am Main. The cooperation started in 2008 and involved the
coordination, by means of common projects, of the research agendas of the
Mind Language and Action Group (MLAG–Institute of Philosophy,
University of Porto, Portugal; Principal Investigator: Sofia Miguens) and
ProtoSociology An International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and
Project, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main (led by Gerhard Preyer).
The first common Project, Consciousness and Subjectivity2 (2008-2012),
started from a shared concern about the generalization of a naturalized
epistemology stance in current discussions on consciousness in analytic
philosophy. Not only we had doubts that naturalized epistemology could
be the last word in epistemology, but we also believed that such a situation
resulted in a blindspot concerning the natures of consciousness and
subjectivity. When third-person approaches are dominant (and the
proximity of much philosophical work on mind and language with
cognitive science reinforces such orientation), issues concerning subjectivity
are taken to be exhausted when problems regarding the place of
consciousness in nature, or language and first-person authority, are
addressed.
Our second project, Pre-reflective Consciousness, took up issues
where the first one left them. We were interested in the shape of what we
saw as a return of the problem of subjectivity in philosophy of mind (we
regarded the works of Anscombe, Castañeda, Chisholm, Perry and others
as examples). We were also interested in looking systematically at the

2
See, Miguens and Preyer (2012).
 7

history of 20th century philosophy. As a result we decided to explore the

relations between current debates on consciousness within analytical
philosophy (e.g. the debate around self-representationalism) and debates
taking place in continental philosophy around the time of Sartre, and in his
work. In fact, the history of the return of subjectivity in analytic philosophy
with which we are concerned dates back to the mid 1960s and to early
critiques of functionalism in the philosophy of mind in the 1970s. A
number of philosophers, with quite different backgrounds, converged
around the idea that phenomenal consciousness could not be reduced to
functional or cognitive properties. Such agreement went under headings
such as the “explanatory gap” or the “hard problem of consciousness”. We
took such agreement to concern not only, or not even necessarily,
phenomenal experience but the pre-reflective structure of consciousness.
That is the main topic of this book. One may see this movement as leading
to a renewal of what one of us calls ‘the Cartesian intuition’, i.e. the
intuition of the self-giveness of consciousness. It is under such light that a
need arises to rethink borders between what counts as ‘inner’ and ‘outer’
when the nature of the mental is at stake.
It is a question whether the inner should be characterized as under the
skin only. And it is a question whether there is indeed such thing as an
epistemic priority of consciousness of one’s mental states in relation to
knowledge of other minds and the world. Along with the idea that the
mental cannot be described from the outside only goes an analysis of pre-
reflective (immediate) consciousness, which extends to phenomenal
consciousness, self-knowledge as I-knowledge, intentional states and the
consciousness of time.
A general intention and policy of our projects, as it was already the
case with the first one, is to bring analytic, or analytically inspired,
 8

philosophers and phenomenologists working on the continent with Anglo-

American philosophers. We believe that discussions (e.g. discussions of the
so-called mind-body problem), which have in many quarters of analytic
philosophy become quite scholastic, come alive once again once seen
through the light of a different philosophical tradition. Furthermore, we
believe non-reductionism in the philosophy of mind does not entail the
option for a particular ontology. What is at stake is not opting for
ontological dualism in epistemology and the philosophy of mind, but
simply taking the explanatory gap seriously.
We would like to thank the contributors of the project, which has
brought together authors from several countries, and in fact embodies a
cooperation between Europe and the US in the fields of Sartre studies and
consciousness studies in a way we hope is mutually illuminating.
We would also like to thank many colleagues in Frankfurt a. M. and
in Porto for their helpful sensitive co-operation as well as the Portuguese
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia and the EU Erasmus Programme
for financing holding of lectures and making meeting at the Institute of
Philosophy, University of Porto.

Sofia Miguens
Gerhard Preyer
Frankfurt a. M.-Porto January 2015
 9

Contributors

Anna Ciaunica, post doc., Université de Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.

Jeremy Ekberg, Associate Professor of English, Shantou University,

Shantou, China.

Matthew C. Eshleman, Professor of Philosophy, Department of

Philosophy and Religion, University of North Carol, Wilmington,
Wilmington, NC, United States of America.

Manfred Frank, Professor of Philosophy emer., Eberhard Karls University,

Tübingen, Germany.

Rocco J. Gennaro, Professor and Chair, Philosophy Department/Phil of

Mind/CogSci Area Editor, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, College of
Liberal Arts, University of Southern Indiana, University Blvd., Evansville,
IN, United States of America.

Andreas Heinz, Professor of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinik für

Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Campus Charité-Mitte, Berlin, Germany.

Terry Horgan, Professor of Philosophy, University of Arizona, Tucson,

AZ, United States of America.

Iker Garcia, Visiting Lecturer, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,

Champaign, United States of America.

Tomis Kapitan, Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy,

Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, United States of America.

Uriah Kriegel, Professor of Philosophy, Research Director, Jean Nicod

Institute, Ecole Normal Supérieure, Paris, France.

Dorothée Legrand, Professor of Philosophy, Chercheur CNRS, Archives

Husserl, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France.

Joseph Levine, Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy,

University of Mass, Amherst, MA, United States of America.
 10

Sofia Miguens, Professor of Philosophy, University of Porto,

Departemento di Filosofia, Porto, Portugal.

Raoul Moati, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy. University of

Chicago, Chicago. United States of America.

Clara Bravo Morando, Dr. phil., University of Porto, Departemento di

Filosofia, Porto, Portugal.

Katherine Morris, Fellow in Philosophy, Mansfield College, Oxford

University, Great Britain.

Shaun Nichols, Professor of Philosophy, University of Arizona, Tucson,

AZ, United States of America.

Gerhard Preyer, Professor of Sociology, Goethe-University Frankfurt am

Main, Frankfurt a. M., Germany.

Pierre-Jean Renaudie, Post-Doctoral Researcher, University of

Porto/University of Lisbon. Portugal.

Daniel R. Rodriguez Navas, PhD Candidate, Department of Philosophy,

University of Chicago, Chicago, United States of America.

Mark Rowlands, Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy,

University of Miami, Coral Gables, United States of America.

Gerhard Seel, Professor of Philosophy, Institute of Philosophy, University

Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Eric Trémault, Doctor in Philosophy, Université Paris I - Panthéon-

Sorbonne, Paris, France.

Joshua Tepley, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Saint Anselm College,

Manchester, NH, United States of America.

Jonathan Webber, Reader in Philosophy, School of English,

Communication, and Philosophy, Cardiff University, Humanities Building,
Cardiff, United States of America.
 11

Kathleen Wider, Professor of Philosophy, Department of Literature,

Philosophy, and the Arts, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn
Michigan, United States of America.

Kenneth Williford, Professor & Chair, Department of Philosophy, UT

Arlington, Arlington, United States of America.

Editors

Sofia Miguens
Professor of Philosophy (Department of Philosophy – University of Porto);
Researcher (Institute of Philosophy – University of Porto); Principal
Investigator Mind Language and Action Group (MLAG –Institute of
Philosophy / University of Porto, Portugal), Main research area:
Philosophy of mind.

Clara Bravo Morando Dr.

(Institute of Philosophy – University of Porto)

Gerhard Preyer
Professor of Sociology, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt a.
M. Germany

Research context of the project

This project is taking place as part of the agenda of Mind Language and
Action Group (MLAG–Institute of Philosophy/ University of Porto,
Portugal), a research group in philosophy of mind, philosophy of language
and philosophy of action and
 12

ProtoSociology An International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and

Project, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt a. M., Germany
Research context
The project will be integrated in another one, called “Consciousness and
Subjectivity”, developed by Professors Sofia Miguens Travis and Gerhard
Preyer.

First project

The first Frankfurt-Porto consciousness Project (Consciousness and

Subjectivity, 2008-2012) started with a common concern about a
generalization of a naturalized epistemology stance in current discussions
on consciousness in analytic philosophy. Not only we had doubts that
naturalized epistemology could be the last word in epistemology, but also
we believed that such a situation resulted in a blindspot concerning
consciousness and subjectivity. When third person approaches are
dominant and the proximity of much philosophical work on mind and
language with cognitive science reinforces such orientation, issues
concerning subjectivity are taken to be exhausted when problems regarding
the place of consciousness in nature, or language and first-person authority,
are addressed.
The main result of the project was the following volume:

Sofia Miguens, Gerhard Preyer eds.

Consciousness and Subjectivity
W. De Gruyter, Berlin, Ontos Publisher, Heusenstamm bei Frankfurt a. M.
2012
 13

Publications
philosophy of mind, language, action

Mind Language and Action Group, ProtoSociology

Sofia Miguens, Gerhard Preyer (Eds.)

Consciousness and Subjectivity
Series: Philosophical Analysis 47
W. De Gruyter, Berlin, Ontos publisher, Heusenstamm b. Frankfurt a. M.
Germany

Mind Language and Action Group

1. Books
Sofia Miguens
Uma Teoria Fisicalista do Conteúdo e da Consciência – D. Dennett e os
debates da filosofia da mente. Porto, Campo das Letras, Colecção Nous,
2002, 596 pp. ISBN: 972-610-653-2.

Racionalidade. Porto, Campo das Letras, 2004, 215 pp. ISBN: 978-972-
6108580.

Filosofia da linguagem – uma introdução. Porto, FL–UP, Colecção CAP-

FLUP, 2007, 294 pp. ISBN: 978-972-8932-28-2. (2ª edição: 2012)

Será que a minha mente está dentro da minha cabeça? Da ciência cognitiva
à filosofia (ensaios). Porto, Campo das Letras, 2008, 271 pp. ISBN: 978-989-
6253479.

Compreender a mente e o conhecimento. Porto, FL–UP, 2009, 421 pp.

ISBN: 978-972-8932-50-3. ISSN: 1646-6527.

John McDowell – uma análise a partir da filosofia moral (with Susana

Cadilha) (forthcoming)
 14

João Alberto Pinto

Superveniência, Materialismo e Experiência – Uma perspectiva sobre o
problema da consciência em filosofia da mente. Porto, Campo das Letras,
2007.

Paulo Tunhas
O Pensamento e os seus Objectos. Porto, FL–UP, 2009, 421 pp. ISBN: 978-
972-8932-71-8. ISSN: 1646-6527.

2. Edited books

Sofia Miguens, João Alberto Pinto e Carlos Eduardo Mauro coords.,

Análises / Analyses – Actas do Segundo Encontro Nacional de Filosofia
Analítica / Proceeedings of the 2nd National Meeting for Analytic
Philosophyx., Porto, Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, 2006,
378 pp. ISBN: 978-972-8932-09-1

Sofia Miguens e Carlos Mauro coords, Perspectives on Rationality. Porto,

FL-UP, MLAG Discussion Papers vol. 1, 2006, 199 pp. ISBN: 972-8932-21-
9. ISSN: 1646-6527.

Carlos E. Mauro, Sofia Miguens e Susana Cadilha, Mente, Linguagem e

Acção – textos para discussão. Coordenação 2009. Porto, Campo das Letras,
254 pp. ISBN: 978-989-625-356-

Sofia Miguens e Manuela Teles (coords), Aparência e Realidade, Lisboa,

Colibri, col. Episteme, 2010. 233 pp. ISBN: 978-989-689-032-23.

Sofia Miguens, João Alberto Pinto e Manuela Teles coords., Aspectos do

Juízo /Aspects of Judgement – Actas do Colóquio Internacional Anual C-
MLAG 2009 & 2010 / Proceedings of C-MLAG Annual International
Conference 2009 & 2010, Porto, FL-UP, MLAG Discussion Papers vol. 4,
2011. 295 pp. ISBN: 978-972-8932-69-5; ISSN: 1646-6527.

Sofia Miguens e Susana Cadilha coords., Acção e Ética – Conversas sobre

Racionalidade Prática, , Lisboa, Colibri, col. Episteme, 2011, 310 pp. ISBN:
978-972-772-155-8)4.

3
Resultado do Projecto (interno ao Instituto de Filosofia) Convergences / Convergências (2007-2010).
4
Publicação resultante do Projecto Conversations on Pratical Rationality and Human Action (2007-2010)
 15

Carlos Mauro, Sofia Miguens & Susana Cadilha, Conversations on Practical

Rationality and Human Action, Newcastle, Cambridge Scholars Publishing,
2013. ISBN: 1-4438-4788-9.

Sofia Miguens, João Alberto Pinto, Miguel Amen e Maria Clara Dias
(coords.), Filosofia da mente – uma antologia, Porto, U. Porto editoral,
forthcoming. Brazilian edition, forthcoming

Charles Travis & Sofia Miguens (eds.), The Logical Alien At 20, Cambridge
MA, Harvard University Press, forthcoming

Rui Vieira da Cunha, Clara Morando & Sofia Miguens. From Minds to
Persons – Proceedings of MLAG 1st Graduate Conference. Porto, FL-UP,
Colecção MLAG Discussion Papers. forthcoming

Sofia Miguens & Paulo Tunhas, Ser ou não ser Kantiano. Lisboa, Colibri,
col. Episteme, forthcoming.

Sofia Miguens & Susana Cadilha coords., Frege e Intérpretes de Frege –

seminário de Charles Travis. Notas traduzidas e editadas por Sofia Miguens
e Susana Cadilha. Lisboa, Colibri, col. Episteme, forthcoming.

ProtoSociology

1. ProtoSociology Vols.

Philosophy of Mind

Vol. 22/2006
Compositionality, Concepts and Representations
New Problems in Cognitive Science II

Vol. 21/2005
Compositionality, Concepts and Representations
New Problems in Cognitive Science I

Vol. 14/2000
Folk Psychology, Mental Concepts and the Ascription of Attitudes
 16

On Contemporary Philosophy of Mind

2. Edited books

Gerhard Preyer ed.

Donald Davidson on Truth, Meaning and the Mental
Oxford University, Press, Oxford UK

Gerhard Preyer, Frank Siebelt, Alexander Ulfig (eds.)

Language, Mind, and Epistemology
On Donald Davidson’s Philosophy
Synthesis Library, Springer Verlag, Wien

3. Books

Erwin Rogler and Gerhard Preyer

Materialismus, anomaler Monismus und mentale Kausalität
Zur gegenwärtigen Philosophie des Mentalen bei
Donald Davidson und David Lewis
Verlag Humanities-Online, Frankfurt a. Main

Gerhard Preyer
Intention and Practical Thought
Humanities Online, Frankfurt a. M.

Gerhard Preyer
Back to Cartesian Intuition
Internalism, Externalism, and the Mental
Forthcoming

4. Articles

Erwin Rogler and Gerhard Preyer

Anomalous Monism and Mental Causality
On the Debate of Donald Davidson’s Philosophy of the Mental
Humanities Online, Frankfurt a. M., Open Access: Free to download

Erwin Rogler
On David Lewis’ Philosophy of Mind
 17

Humanities Online, Frankfurt a. M., Open Access: Free to download

Gerhard Preyer
www.fb03.uni-frankfurt.de/48480132/gpreyer
www.protosociology.de

List of Publications
http://www.fb03.uni-frankfurt.de/48480801/publikationen