On Possible and Actual Human Introspection

Abstract

In this commentary, I take up Kammerer and Frankish's (this issue) project of exploring the space of possible and actual introspection. Focusing on human introspection where we lack concrete psychological models, I identify three types of introspection: (1) simple introspection of perceptual experience, (2) introspection of mental action, and (3) complex introspection of phenomenology. Drawing on psychological capacities which we empirically understand, I show how each type relies on various forms of attention to guide introspective response and raise questions about introspective reliability drawing on the proposed architecture. I conclude with some preliminary remarks on how to map these three forms within Kammerer and Frankish's conceptual space and the requisite dimensions needed to do so.