ABSTRACT
The notion of consciousness occurs at the centre of both Kant's and James's work and raises fundamental, methodological questions about both philosopher's understanding of psychology, philosophy, and the relation between them. In Kant the "transcendental unity of consciousness" plays an essential part in the Transcendental Deduction, itself at the centre of Kant's philosophy in the first Critique. James's discussion of consciousness also reflects naturally two related interests. On one side he considers how the phenomenon of consciousness fits into his enquiries in empirical psychology. On that point, as he explains, he became deeply suspicious of the way that phenomenon had been treated in psychology and philosophy and seeks to clarify it. On another side he recognized that at the heart of a human psychology there must be a reference to a person, mind, or thinker, and as a consequence, to an issue about the basis of our sense of identity in the stream of consciousness.
