ABSTRACT
According to the target article, consciousness results (in part) from focalattentive processing, but is not ontologically identical to it. Nevertheless it remains open to scientific investigation (7TA.9.2). I found it difficult to recognise my views in some of the commentaries on this issue. Mandler, for example, accuses me of trying to “proscribe the use of the concept of consciousness from psychological science” by replacing it with “attention”. Baars accuses me of trying to remove consciousness from scientific discussion by dissociating it from “attention”. Carlson accuses me of “replacing the notion of consciousness with the notion of focal-attentive processing”, yet notes that I reject “the identification of consciousness with focal attention”. Rey, on the other hand, opposes my attempt to dissociate consciousness from attention, for the reason that he wishes to remove the concept of consciousness from psychological science. Their detailed commentaries are similarly confusing.
