Nicolas, Paola
Do We Take Notice of All Our Mental Acts?
- 2023.
74
The aim of this paper is to show the intertwined roles played by some of the greatest figures of late scholasticism during the 16th century in drawing attention to the importance of the question, “Are we aware of all our perceptions and mental acts?” I show how Aquinas’ disciples introduce a new vocabulary specifically designed to characterize the privileged cognitive access we have to our own mental acts: the concept of advertentia. This term designates the act by which a perception is noticed. Dominicans of the 16th century adopt a position very close to that of Descartes, at least from a phenomenological point of view, by making advertence the mark of the mental.