QUESTION 1

"Amy Kind presents the following scenario as an objection to representationalism about phenomenal consciousness:

"[S]uppose that a woman takes off her reading glasses while perusing a menu. Whereas she previously perceived the list of appetizers sharply and clearly, now everything has gone blurry. Someone who doesnt need to use reading glasses can achieve the same affect by unfocusing her eyes; in doing so, the phenomenal character of her experience changes. In describing this change, many people find it implausible to say that the words on the menu themselves have become blurry; rather, what seems blurry is the experience itself. In other words, it looks like we can focus on the blurriness of our experience independently of what the blurriness is of. (Kind, A. 2010. Transparency and Representationalist Theories of Consciousness, Philosophy Compass 5: 902913, page 3.907908)"

What is representationalism about consciousness? How is the scenario described by Kind meant to raise problems for the view? Does it succeed as an objection against respresentationalism?

QUESTION 2

Michelle Montague argues that cognitive phenomenology is needed to distinguish conscious occurrent thoughts from non-conscious occurrent thoughts (Montague, M. 2015 The Life of the Mind, in: P. Coates and Coleman, S. (eds.) Phenomenal Qualities: Sense, Perception, and Consciousness. Oxford University Press.). What is Montague's argument for this claim? Does she succeed at showing that what Ned Block calls "access consciousness" is not sufficient for making a thought conscious?

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