Abstract
An important question in consciousness research concerns its origins. In Julian Jaynes' book, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, he suggests that consciousness arose rather recently in human history, sometime between the composition of The Iliad and The Odyssey. Although Jaynes' work as a theory of consciousness has achieved a great deal of attention (and indeed criticism), what has not been widely noted is the prominent role of volition in his theory. In this article I hope to draw attention to these overlooked aspects of his theory, in particular the fact that volition is central to Jaynes' definition of consciousness and that it is changes in the nature of volitional experience that mark, for Jaynes, the emergence of consciousness.
Highlights
In Julian Jaynes’ book, The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (Jaynes, 1977),1 he presented an ambitious theory that turned to the historical record in an attempt to pinpoint the period of human history in which consciousness emerged
There are three elements to Jaynes’ theory of the origins of consciousness: (1) his definition of consciousness, (2) his notion of the bicameral mind, and (3) his argument that consciousness emerged following the breakdown of the bicameral mind
In my analysis two themes have emerged: the first is that the experience of self-volition appeared fairly recently in human history, and the second is that, for Jaynes, it was the appearance of selfvolition that signalled the emergence of consciousness following the breakdown of the bicameral mind
Summary
In Julian Jaynes’ book, The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (Jaynes, 1977), he presented an ambitious theory that turned to the historical record in an attempt to pinpoint the period of human history in which consciousness emerged. It could be argued that it is as much a theory of volition as it is of consciousness. The emergence of consciousness manifests itself in changes in the nature of human volition. Anyone familiar with Jaynes theory is likely to be aware of the mixed critical reception of Jaynes’ theory. This criticism is important to acknowledge and is something I address towards the end of this article. My aim is to draw attention to those (overlooked) features of Jaynes’ theory that directly relate to human volition
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