Can you feel happiness without losing consciousness?

Title: The Ethical

Journal:
Michele Farisco et al
Published: 12/29/2017
: 10.10. 1186/s13010-017-0053-9
Original link:Traditionally, ethical analysis of consciousness disorders has focused primarily on situations of residual consciousness. But researchers say ethical analysis of the unconscious is also important. In the following article, Michele Farisco reviews a recent study published in
, which provides us with some ethical analysis of the unconscious state.the more primitive understanding of consciousness to describe it as the opposite of the unconscious. When our natural language is limited, it makes sense to use this dialectical description to distinguish between behaviors that we are "aware of" and "not aware of". However, with the progress of recent scientific research, we have come to find that this simple antagonistic description does not express the rich meaning behind consciousness and unconsciousness.
, cognitive science evidence suggests that the role of the unconscious is very similar to that of consciousness. This similarity is reflected not only in cognitive activities, but also in emotional life. Some researchers believe that activities that can be accomplished in a state of consciousness are just as likely to be done in a state of unconsciousness. If this is true, it has an important impact on how we understand consciousness and how we make decisions based on it. This has an impact, in particular, on ethical assessments in border situations, especially when we are unable to determine the extent to which the subjects are conscious. In this case, a complete ethical analysis may not be enough to look for residual consciousness. In fact, if we believe that the ethical value of consciousness depends on specific factors that also exist in the unconscious state, then the unconscious should also be included in such ethical analysis.When it comes to consciousness disorders, such as plant-human state/unresponsive awakening syndrome, the method commonly used to measure "moral value" (i.e., moral value and therefore moral respect) takes into account two factors: well-being and interest in things. Further discussion will also focus on the patient's remaining awareness and try to figure out whether the patient has enough awareness to enable them to perceive happiness and interest. In other words: well-being and interest are sufficiently necessary to gain moral value, and if the residual consciousness of the subject can still give him the resources, he should be morally respected., however, since the evidence mentioned above proves the similarity between consciousness and unconsciousness, it is not enough to focus solely on the moral values of residual consciousness. In fact, happiness and interest can probably extend to the unconscious.
happiness can be described as a positive effect associated with things that make the lives of the subjects better (according to specific criteria). The only necessary condition for experiencing happiness is to be able to experience "motivation". Experience motivation is basically an emotional process. As we can see from above, emotions may arise consciously or unconsciously. In particular, some underlying emotions, such as anger, fear, happiness, disgust, etc., have long systematic developmental roots and are likely to occur completely unconsciously. Therefore, there are limitations to analyzing happiness solely on the basis of residual consciousness, which may also or may only be experienced at the unconscious level.
the same is true of interest. Interest in something can be understood as establishing a stake in something that might make our lives better. Making life better can be understood as something that better meets our needs. Contemporary neuroscience portrays the brain as an evaluation organ that distinguishes relevant inputs, tracks and recognizes them, and reacts emotionally to them in a related way. This can be conscious or unconscious. Logically, therefore, interest can refer to both the conscious brain and the unconscious brain. Therefore, interest cannot be assessed solely on the basis of consciousness.based on scientific data on the brain's ability to unconsciously, as well as arguments that are crucial to happiness and interest in ethical discussions, we can reasonably argue that unconsciousness is ethically relevant. The basic argument for this is as follows:
If consciousness is related to morality because of the activities it can trigger, and the unconscious can trigger similar activities, then unconsciousness should also be related to morality.
We say that the unconscious deserves moral attention, but that's not enough to solve specific ethical problems, such as whether to take off the ventilator or continue to maintain it when life is coming to an end." These specific issues should be assessed on the basis of the unconscious ethical relevance that I have proposed.
, the discussion of human morality without the unconscious is like scraping the surface of an iceberg without touching on a deeper problem.
summary:
Background
Ethical analyses of disorders of consciousness traditionally focus on residual awareness. Going one step further, this paper explores the potential ethical relevance of the unawareness retained by patients with disorders of consciousness, focusing specifically on the ethical implications of the description of the unconscious provided by recent scientific research.
Methods
A conceptual methodology is used, based on the review and analysis of relevant scientific literature on the unconscious and the logical argumentation in favour of the ethical conclusions.
Results
Two conditions (experiential wellbeing and having interests) that are generally considered critical components in the ethical discussion of patients with disorders of consciousness might arguably be both conscious and unconscious.
Conclusions
The unconscious, as well as consciousness, should be taken into account in the ethical discussions of patients with disorders of consciousness.(Source: Science.com)