01 December 2016

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There is more to consciousness than the reflexive  character 'in this very experience ... ', or the apperception  therein of one's current experience. For part of  what makes an experience conscious - what brings it  to life-is its 'phenomenal' quality, 'quale'.  Qualia are traditionally defined as the 'raw feels' of  sensations, of experiences such as pains, tickles, dizziness,  etc. But this notion needs to be generalized. Not  only sensations, but all consciousness mental states  have qualia. 11  The phenomenal character, or quale, of an experience  is the subjective character of the experience, how  it 'appears' in consciousness: as we say, what it 'feels'  like, or simply what it is 'like', to have that type of experience.  Sensations have such qualities: compare  what it is like to taste a red Bordeaux wine, to taste  Haagen-Dazs chocolate ice cream, to smell the jasmine,  to smell the sea air, to feel dizzy, to feel  nauseous. (In these cases focus on the pure sensation  involved, for instance, the pure taste of the wine apart  from recognition of its varietal or vintage or region of  origin.)