The social functions of consciousness

This chapter discusses the role and form of consciousness. It begins by describing two distinct aspects of consciousness. First, we can be conscious in the sense of being awake, rather than being asleep or in a coma. This dimension is referred to as the level of consciousness. Second, even when we are wide awake, there may be some things which we are conscious of, while there are also other things which we are not conscious of. This chapter also discusses the contents of consciousness, or the things we are conscious of when awake. When we are awake our consciousness has contents, while when we are deeply asleep it does not.