title: Four-Dimensional Graded Consciousness.
abstract: Both the multidimensional phenomenon and the polysemous notion of consciousness continue to prove resistant to consistent measurement and unambiguous definition. This is hardly surprising, given that there is no agreement even as regards the most fundamental issues they involve. One of the basic disagreements present in the continuing debate about consciousness pertains to its gradational nature. The general aim of this article is to show how consciousness might be graded and multidimensional at the same time. We therefore focus on the question of what it is, exactly, that is or could be graded in cases of consciousness, and how we can measure it. Ultimately, four different gradable aspects of consciousness will be described:quality,abstractness,complexityandusefulness, which belong to four different dimensions, these being understood, respectively, asphenomenal, semantic, physiological, andfunctional.Consequently, consciousness may be said to vary with respect tophenomenal quality, semantic abstraction, physiological complexity, andfunctional usefulness. It is hoped that such a four-dimensional approach will help to clarify and justify claims about the hierarchical nature of consciousness. The approach also proves explanatorily advantageous, as it enables us not only to draw attention to certain new and important differences in respect ofsubjective measures of awarenessand to justify how a given creature may be ranked higher in one dimension of consciousness and lower in terms of another, but also allows for innovative explanations of a variety of well-known phenomena (amongst these, the interpretations ofblindsightandlocked-in syndromewill be briefly outlined here). Moreover, a 4D framework makes possible many predictions and hypotheses that may be experimentally tested (We point out a few such possibilities pertaining to interdimensional dependencies).
authors.affiliation: Department of Management, Institute of Sociology, University of Bielsko-Biala Bielsko-Biala, Poland.
authors.forename: Jakub
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jonkisz
authors.affiliation: Consciousness Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wierzchoń
authors.affiliation: Psychophysiology Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Binder
keywords: dimensions of consciousness; graded consciousness; levels of consciousness; measures of consciousness; multidimensional consciousness