Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-kp629 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T14:42:56.677Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

What's it like to be a state? An argument for state consciousness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2020

Adam B. Lerner Open the ORCID record for Adam B. Lerner [Opens in a new window]
Adam B. Lerner*
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
*
Corresponding author. Email: Adam.Lerner@rhul.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Questions of consciousness pervade the social sciences. Yet, despite persistent tendencies to anthropomorphize states, most International Relations scholarship implicitly adopts the position that humans are conscious and states are not. Recognizing that scholarly disagreement over fundamental issues prevents answering definitively whether states are truly conscious, I instead demonstrate how scholars of multiple dispositions can incorporate a pragmatic notion of state consciousness into their theorizing. Drawing on recent work from Eric Schwitzgebel and original supplementary arguments, I demonstrate that states are not only complex informationally integrated systems with emergent properties, but they also exhibit seemingly genuine responses to qualia that are irreducible to individuals within them. Though knowing whether states possess an emergent ‘stream’ of consciousness indiscernible to their inhabitants may not yet be possible, I argue that a pragmatic notion of state consciousness can contribute to a more complete understanding of state personhood, as well as a revised model of the international system useful to multiple important theoretical debates. In the article's final section, I apply this model to debate over the levels of analysis at which scholarship applies ontological security theory. I suggest the possibility of emergent state-level ontological insecurity that need not be understood via problematic reduction to individuals.

Keywords

IR theorystate consciousnessphilosophy of mindstate personhoodontological securityepistemology

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
International Theory , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , July 2021 , pp. 260 - 286
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Arfi, Badredline, and Kessler, Oliver. 2018. “Forum: Social Theory Going Quantum-Theoretic? Questions, Alternatives and Challenges.” Millennium: Journal of International Studies 47 (1): 67–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Avramides, Anita. 2019. “Other Minds.” Edited by Edward N. Zalta. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/other-minds/.Google Scholar
Bartelson, Jens. 1998. “Second Natures: Is the State Identical with Itself?” European Journal of International Relations 4 (3): 295–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, Ulrich. 1997. The Reinvention of Politics: Rethinking Modernity in the Global Social Order. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Bergstrom, Rochelle L., and McCaul, Kevin D.. 2004. “Perceived Risk and Worry: The Effects of 9/11 on Willingness to Fly.” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 34 (9): 1846–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blalock, Garrick, Kadiyali, Vrinda, and Simon, Daniel H.. 2009. “Driving Fatalities After 9/11: A Hidden Cost of Terrorism.” Applied Economics 41 (14): 1717–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bleiker, Roland, and Hutchison, Emma. 2008. “Fear No More: Emotions and World Politics.” Review of International Studies 34 (S1): 115–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Block, Ned. 1983. “Troubles with Functionalism.” In Readings in Philosophy of Psychology, vol. 1, edited by Block, Ned, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Chalmers, David J. 1997. The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory. Philosophy of Mind Series. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Chalmers, David J. 2010. The Character of Consciousness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charland-Verville, Vanessa, Vanhaudenhuyse, Audrey, Laureys, Steven, and Gosseries, Olivia. 2015. “The Scientific Study of Coma and Related States.” In The Constitution of Phenomenal Consciousness: Toward a Science and Theory, edited by Miller, Steven M., 293–309. 92. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Christophe, Véronique, and Rimé, Bernard. 1997. “Exposure to the Social Sharing of Emotion: Emotional Impact, Listener Responses and Secondary Social Sharing.” European Journal of Social Psychology 27 (1): 37–54.3.0.CO;2-1>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crawford, Neta C. 2014. “Institutionalizing Passion in World Politics: Fear and Empathy.” International Theory 6 (03): 535–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Croft, Stuart. 2012. “Constructing Ontological Insecurity: The Insecuritization of Britain's Muslims.” Contemporary Security Policy 33 (2): 219–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dennett, Daniel C. 1993. Consciousness Explained. London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Dennett, Daniel C. 2016. “Illusionism as the Obvious Default Theory of Consciousness.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 23 (11–12): 65–72.Google Scholar
Dretske, Fred I. 1997. Explaining Behavior: Reasons in a World of Causes. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Durkheim, Émile. 1998. The Division of Labour in Society. Edited by Coser, Lewis and Halls, W. D.. Theoretical Traditions in the Social Sciences. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Edkins, Jenny. 2002. “Forget Trauma? Responses to September 11.” International Relations 16 (2): 243–56. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047117802016002005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feest, Uljana. 2014. “Phenomenal Experiences, First-Person Methods, and the Artificiality of Experimental Data.” Philosophy of Science 81 (5): 927–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, Yale H., and Mansbach, Richard W.. 1991. “Between Celebration and Despair: Constructive Suggestions for Future International Theory.” International Studies Quarterly 35 (4): 363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fernyhough, Charles. 1996. “The Dialogic Mind: A Dialogic Approach to the Higher Mental Functions.” New Ideas in Psychology 14 (1): 47–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Figdor, Carrie. 2018. Pieces of Mind: The Proper Domain of Psychological Predicates. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franklin, Stan. 2001. Artificial Minds. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Frankish, Keith. 2016. “Illusionism as a Theory of Consciousness.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 23 (11–12): 11–39.Google Scholar
Freud, Sigmund. 1939. Moses and Monotheism. Translated by Jones, Katherine. New York: Vintage Books, 1967.Google Scholar
Freud, Sigmund. 1957. “Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego.” In Standard Edition, vol. 18. London: Hogarth Press.Google Scholar
Giacino, Joseph T., Ashwal, Stephen, Childs, Nancy, Cranford, Ronald, Jennett, Bryan, Katz, Douglas I., Kelly, James P., Rosenberg, Jay H., Whyte, John, and Zafonte, Ross D.. 2002. “The Minimally Conscious State: Definition and Diagnostic Criteria.” Neurology 58 (3): 349–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Giddens, Anthony. 1991. Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Gilpin, Robert G. 1984. “The Richness of the Tradition of Political Realism.” International Organization 38 (02): 287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haberman, Maggie, and Sanger, David E.. 2018. “‘It Won't Happen’, Donald Trump Says of North Korean Missile Test.” The New York Times, August 7, 2018, sec. World. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/world/asia/trump-twitter-north-korea-missiles-china.html.Google Scholar
Hall, Todd H., and Ross, Andrew A. G.. 2015. “Affective Politics After 9/11.” International Organization 69 (4): 847–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, T. H., and A, Ross. 2019. “Rethinking affective experience and popular emotions: World War I and the construction of group emotion in International Relations.” Political Psychology 40, 1357–1372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, Lene. 2006. Security as Practice: Discourse Analysis and the Bosnian War. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hareli, Shlomo, and Rafaeli, Anat. 2008. “Emotion Cycles: On the Social Influence of Emotion in Organizations.” Research in Organizational Behavior 28 (January): 35–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huddy, Leonie, and Feldman, Stanley. 2011. “Americans Respond Politically to 9/11: Understanding the Impact of the Terrorist Attacks and Their Aftermath.” American Psychologist 66 (6): 455–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huebner, Bryce. 2014. Macrocognition: A Theory of Distributed Minds and Collective Intentionality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hutchison, Emma. 2016. Affective Communities in World Politics: Collective Emotions After Trauma. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huysmans, Jef. 1998. “Security! What Do You Mean?: From Concept to Thick Signifier.” European Journal of International Relations 4 (2): 226–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyslop, Alec. 2014. “Other Minds.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2018 Edition), edited by Zalta, Edward N.. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2018/entries/possible-objects/.Google Scholar
Jackson, Patrick Thaddeus. 2008. “Foregrounding Ontology: Dualism, Monism, and IR Theory.” Review of International Studies 34 (01): 129–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, Patrick Thaddeus. 2016. “Fundamental Grounding.” Perspectives on Politics 14 (4): 1153–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahler, Miles. 1998. “Rationality in International Relations.” International Organization 52 (4): 919–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kammerer, François. 2015. “How a Materialist Can Deny That the United States is Probably Conscious – Response to Schwitzgebel.” Philosophia 43 (4): 1047–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelsen, Hans. 1924. “The Conception of the State and Social Psychology – With Special Reference to Freud's Group Theory.” International Journal of Psycho-Analysis 5: 1–38.Google Scholar
Kinnvall, Catarina. 2004. “Globalization and Religious Nationalism: Self, Identity, and the Search for Ontological Security.” Political Psychology 25 (5): 741–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krasner, Stephen D. 1982. “Regimes and the Limits of Realism: Regimes as Autonomous Variables.” International Organization 36 (02): 497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laing, Ronald D. 1960. The Divided Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness. London: Pelican.Google Scholar
Le Bon, Gustave. 1897. The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind. New York: The MacMillan Company.Google Scholar
Lebow, Richard Ned. 2016. National Identities and International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lerner, Adam B. 2019. “The Uses and Abuses of Victimhood Nationalism in International Politics.” European Journal of International Relations. online pages are 1–26.Google Scholar
List, Christian. 2018. “What is it Like to Be a Group Agent?” Noûs 52 (2): 295–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lomas, Peter. 2005. “Anthropomorphism, Personification and Ethics: A Reply to Alexander Wendt.” Review of International Studies 31 (2): 349–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDougall, William. 1920. The Group Mind. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.Google Scholar
McSweeney, Bill. 1999. Security, Identity and Interests: A Sociology of International Relations. Cambridge Studies in International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511491559.Google Scholar
Mearsheimer, John J. 2009. “Reckless States and Realism.” International Relations 23 (2): 241–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mercer, Jonathan. 2006. “Human Nature and the First Image: Emotion in International Politics.” Journal of International Relations and Development 9 (S3): 288–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mercer, Jonathan. 2010. “Emotional Beliefs.” International Organization 64 (1): 1–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mercer, Jonathan. 2014. “Feeling Like a State: Social Emotion and Identity.” International Theory 6 (3): 515–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitzen, Jennifer. 2006. “Ontological Security in World Politics: State Identity and the Security Dilemma.” European Journal of International Relations 12 (3): 341–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, G. Scott, Daniel C. Wisneski, and Linda J. Skitka, . 2011. “The Expulsion from Disneyland: The Social Psychological Impact of 9/11.” American Psychologist 66 (6): 447–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Myers, David G. 2001. “Do We Fear the Right Things?” APS Observer 14 (10). This is an online column available at https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/do-we-fear-the-right-thingsGoogle Scholar
Nagel, Thomas. 1974. “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” The Philosophical Review 83 (4): 435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Overgaard, Morten. 2006. “Book Review Essay: Consciousness Studies: The View from Psychology.” British Journal of Psychology 97 (3): 425–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Park, Robert E. 1921. “Sociology and the Social Sciences: The Social Organism and the Collective Mind.” American Journal of Sociology 27 (1): 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pettit, Philip. 2010. “Groups with Minds of Their Own.” In Social Epistemology: Essential Readings, edited by Goldman, Alvin and Whitcomb, Dennis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Pettit, Philip. 2018. “Consciousness Incorporated.” Journal of Social Philosophy 49 (1): 12–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pick, Daniel. 1995. “Freud's ‘Group Psychology’ and the History of the Crowd.” History Workshop Journal 40: 39–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rimé, Bernard. 2009. “Emotion Elicits the Social Sharing of Emotion: Theory and Empirical Review.” Emotion Review 1 (1): 60–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ringmar, Erik. 1996. “On the Ontological Status of the State.” European Journal of International Relations 2 (4): 439–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rossdale, Chris. 2015. “Enclosing Critique: The Limits of Ontological Security.” International Political Sociology 9 (4): 369–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sasley, Brent E. 2011. “Theorizing States’ Emotions.” International Studies Review 13 (3): 452–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saurette, Paul. 2006. “You Dissin Me? Humiliation and Post 9/11 Global Politics.” Review of International Studies 32 (3): 495–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiff, Jacob. 2008. “‘Real’? As If! Critical Reflections on State Personhood.” Review of International Studies 34 (2): 363–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwitzgebel, Eric. 2012. “Why Tononi Should Think That the United States Is Conscious.” The Splintered Mind (blog). March 23, 2012. http://schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2012/03/why-tononi-should-think-that-united.html.Google Scholar
Schwitzgebel, Eric. 2015. “If Materialism is True, the United States is Probably Conscious.” Philosophical Studies 172 (7): 1697–721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwitzgebel, E., 2016. “Phenomenal consciousness, defined and defended as innocently as I can manage.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 23 (11–12), pp.224–235. VancouverGoogle Scholar
Schwitzgebel, Eric. 2016b. “Is the United States Phenomenally Conscious? Reply to Kammerer.” Philosophia 44 (3): 877–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Searle, John R. 1980. “Minds, Brains, and Programs.” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3 (03): 417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Searle, John R. 1984. Minds, Brains, and Science. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Silver, Roxane Cohen. 2002. “Nationwide Longitudinal Study of Psychological Responses to September 11.” JAMA 288 (10): 1235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, Sophie. 2018. “Democracy and the Body Politic from Aristotle to Hobbes.” Political Theory 46 (2): 167–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solomon, Ty. 2012. “‘I Wasn't Angry, Because I Couldn't Believe it was Happening’: Affect and Discourse in Responses to 9/11.” Review of International Studies 38 (4): 907–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steele, Brent J. 2008. Ontological Security in International Relations: Self-Identity and the IR State. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steele, Brent J., and Homolar, Alexandra. 2019. “Introduction: Ontological Insecurities and the Politics of Contemporary Populism.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 32 (3): 214–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Subotić, Jelena. 2015. “Narrative, Ontological Security, and Foreign Policy Change.” Foreign Policy Analysis 12 (4): 610–627.Google Scholar
Tajfel, Henri. 1974. “Social Identity and Intergroup Behaviour.” Information (International Social Science Council) 13 (2): 65–93.Google Scholar
Thiessen, Marc A. 2018. “Opinion: Trump Should Get Even Tougher with North Korea.” Washington Post, May 24, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-should-get-even-tougher-with-north-korea/2018/05/24/8bfce360-5f8f-11e8-9ee3-49d6d4814c4c_story.html.Google Scholar
Tononi, Giulio. 2004. “An Information Integration Theory of Consciousness.” BMC Neuroscience 5 (1): 42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trotter, Wilfred. 2005. Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War. London: T. F. Unwin Ltd.Google Scholar
Virmal, Ram. 2009. “Meanings Attributed to the Term ‘Consciousness’: An Overview.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 16 (5): 9–27.Google Scholar
Waltz, Kenneth N. 1979. Theory of International Politics. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Wendt, Alexander. 2004. “The State as Person in International Theory.” Review of International Studies 30 (02): 289–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wendt, Alexander. 2015. Quantum Mind and Social Science: Unifying Physical and Social Ontology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wight, Colin. 2004. “State Agency: Social Action Without Human Activity?” Review of International Studies 30 (2): 269–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wight, Colin. 2006. Agents, Structures and International Relations: Politics as Ontology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar