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Evolution and Self-awareness

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Synonyms

Consciousness; Self-consciousness

Definition

An ability to think about one’s own mental states.

Introduction

It seems clear to me that my subjective mental states are my own. Furthermore, this act of introspection shows that I have some ability to think about my mental states. I would say that I am self-aware. Furthermore, my experience indicates that most humans have such mental states of their own, including self-awareness. The question thus arises where do these subjective mental states, including self-awareness, come from? What causes or explains their presence and content? Has this human capability evolved?

From the earliest times, discussions of consciousness have been closely related to those of free will. Volition is still for many people a definitive attribute of consciousness, which in turn is a definitive attribute of humans. Both volition and consciousness, in turn, are closely allied with rational thought. Often these three capabilities are combined as the...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    R. Haven Wiley

Authors
  1. R. Haven Wiley
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Haven Wiley .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Karin Machluf

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Wiley, R.H. (2018). Evolution and Self-awareness. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2202-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2202-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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