A HOT Take on Phenomenology: A Higher-Order Thought Model of Attention and Phenomenal Overflow

Abstract

This thesis explores the ongoing philosophical discussion on phenomenal overflow, with a particular focus on the significance of attention. After reviewing relevant background information on the overflow debate, this paper offers a new conceptual framework of attention, arguing that attending to some object in the world just is representing that object in a higher-order thought. Once this new framework is developed and defended, it is applied to the overflow debate and argues against the plausibility of phenomenal overflow.