What is it like to be HOT?

Abstract

In a recent paper, Fisette tries to show that Brentano’s theory of consciousness can be considered as a higher order theory of consciousness (HOT), and a better one than Rosenthal’s because Brentano —unlike Rosenthal— can answer all the objections traditionally posed to HOT theories, introducing the idea of self-consciousness and the distinction between implicit and explicit consciousness. In this paper, I will first reconstruct Fisette’s main points, and then I pose some questions to his version of Brentano´s theory. Finally I add some further reasons to reject higher order theories of consciousness.