What is attention?

Dr. John Schwenkler

Philosophy of Psychology, Fall 2014

William James (1890)

"Everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration, of consciousness are of its essence. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others, and is a condition which has a real opposite in the confused, distracted, scatterbrained state which in French is called distraction ..."

St. Augustine (AD 417?)

"... that attention of the mind, which fixes the sense on that thing which we see and binds both together, differs by nature not only from that visible thing -- it is mind, whereas that is body -- but also from the sense itself and the vision, since this attention is proper to the mind alone ..."

Okay, but what is attention?

What is attention?

• Metaphysics: What is the nature of attention?
• Function: What is the role of attention?
• Properties: What are the characteristic features of attention?
• Mechanism: How is attention implemented (in the brain)?
• Consciousness: What is the relation between attention and consciousness?