Development of Self-consciousness

Synonyms

Core self; Egological self; Minimal self; Narrative self; Pre-reflexive self-consciousness; Reflexive self-consciousness; Self-knowledge; Self-recognition; Self-reference

Definition

Self-consciousness is a highly debated notion in philosophical discussions. As such, there is no general definition to be found. The same is consequently true for the development of self-consciousness; positions vary from claims of innateness up to positions maintaining that the development of self-consciousnesses is dependent on the development of higher cognitive abilities.

Self-consciousness is a special type of consciousness – whether there can be consciousness without self-consciousness is naturally still under debate. Many forms of self-consciousness can be differentiated: A major distinction can be made between fully developed forms and antecedent, not fully developed forms of self-consciousness. The former is referred to as reflexive self-consciousness or narrative self. The latter is often...