Human beings are blessed with a most wonderful gift that surpasses that of animals. Human beings can penetrate the world of the unknown, the world of fantasy and dreams, creative solutions that can solve theoretical and practical problems. Human beings can realize the most daring plans. The gift is known as consciousness ( Gennaro, 2012 ). Consciousness takes the highest level of the mental activity of human being. It is a basic concept of psychology, philosophy and sociology. The unique nature of human's mental activity is the fact that it can reflect the reality; it constructively and creatively transforms concept and ideas in the form of mental and sensual images. Human mental activities anticipate actions by social groups and individuals and give orientations to the goals. There is no true definition of the word conscious and this is the reason why philosophers and neuropsychologists sat together and came up with a common definition. This paper defines the meaning of the word conscious and what it means to human beings ( Chalmers, 2010 ).
According to philosophers and neuropsychologists, consciousness is awareness of our sensations, mental states, experiences and feelings. Consciousness can be explained in both objective and subjective arena. Philosophers and scientists have been working extra hard with hope to find the objective definition of consciousness with reflection to neural activity. On the other hand, consciousness is also subjective as mental or conscious experiences. The experiences are termed to a personal or individual phenomenon. Sophist was the first person to note the difference between the natural processes of consciousness with that of materialism. Later on, Socrates compared the act of consciousness with that of the material existence of things. He noted and stressed that there is uniqueness in acts of consciousness ( Chalmers, 2010 ).
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Consciousness creates a big gap between the world and reason while materialism brings unity between the two by deducing spiritual from the material. Historically, materialist theory suggests that it is not possible for one to analyze consciousness on its own without incorporating other phenomena of social lives. Materialistic theory insists that consciousness has been the product of social life and it will remain to be as long as people exist. Human brains welcome the potentials that have already evolved over time and the abilities inherited. The inherited abilities are realized through education and training and social influences through social infrastructure. The brain is an organ of consciousness, and it only works only when it is drawn to social life. It assimilates the cultures that have evolved over time. The main purpose of consciousness is to equip people with a view of the world and transform it by reasoning. When someone is said to be conscious, it means that he or she can remember or perceive and then take into consideration of the possible outcome of her or his actions. The questions of whether he or she can be held responsible for the actions to himself and society is also considered ( Chalmers, 2010 ).
To human beings, consciousness means a form of mental activity that is of the highest form. Mental activities mean all the mental processes that are conscious and unconscious. It also means all mental qualities and states of an individual. The mental processes are the processes of internal states of human being, cognition, and personality attributes such as temperaments and characters amongst others. Mental activity is a key attribute to the whole world of animals. On the other hand, consciousness is considered as the highest level of mental activity and is natural in human beings only although not at all times. Consciousness does not exist in newborn children, in people who are mentally ill and in people who are in coma or asleep. To the healthy, waking and developed individual, not all mental activities make part of consciousness because a big part of mental activities proceeds outside the borderline of consciousness. The mental activates which are outside borderline; they are considered to make the unconscious area of the mind ( Gennaro, 2012 ).
Consciousness also includes evaluative aspects. The evaluative aspects express how consciousness is selected and oriented on values evolved by the society and embraced by an individual. The values may be scientific, philosophical, moral aesthetic, religious or political. Consciousness includes how an individual relates to the above values and himself as a human being hence becoming a form of self-consciousness. Self-consciousness is a social origin.
Human activity is conscious only when it is related to results that are drawn in plan and the intended goal. Again, the realization of goal cannot be explained by incorporating the outcome of one's action. The results of individuals may differ from what was intended in the first place. The results are influenced by external forces which sometimes are different from what was in people's mind. A good example is that of French bourgeois. The ideologist had a dream of the reign of fraternity, reason and justice and political parties and the people fought while these principles were on their mind. The aim was noble and task enormous, but instead of enjoying the reign of reason, they received Napoleon's dictatorship. When a human being becomes aware of his world and the attitude towards it then becomes aware of him or herself ( Chalmers, 2010 ).
In conclusion, consciousness is that situation when someone becomes aware of surrounding, relates to it and also becomes aware of him or herself and who he or is. Consciousness is governed by mental activities and the states of an individual. When a person is not mentally fit, the state of his or her consciousness is disrupted. When a person is asleep or in a coma, consciousness is not functional.
References
Chalmers, D. J. (2010). The character of consciousness . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gennaro, R. J. (2012). The consciousness paradox: Consciousness, concepts, and higher-order thoughts . Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
