Consciousness is what makes us human.

I am the captain of my soul

– William Ernest Henley, 1875

It allows for a rich, textured mental life – full of thought, imagination, and feeling – and gives us the ability to reflect on ourselves and the world. M ost importantly, consciousness provides agency: the capacity to make choices and take responsibility for them.

Consciousness and agency

Consciousness is material, arising from the human brain, and ends when the brain stops functioning. There is no separate, immortal “soul.”

It allows us to combine reason, emotion, and instinct, guiding behaviour through both conscious and unconscious processes.

Most importantly, it gives us the freedom to choose, even if our choices are constrained by genetics, prior experience, or circumstances.

The brain as a generator of meaning

The brain creates internal representations of reality, taking sensory input and combining it with information about the state of our body.

These representations allow us to find meaning in a seemingly random world and to make decisions that reflect both instinct and reason.

Much of the brain’s activity is subconscious, regulating autonomic functions like heartbeat and breathing.

Consciousness creates the possibility for a varied, textured mental life, rich with fantasy and feeling.

Unique human cognitive faculties

Human consciousness is distinguished by higher-order cognitive abilities such as:

• Pattern recognition – discerning meaning in randomness.
• Causality – understanding cause and effect to predict outcomes.
• Intentionality – recognizing and imagining others’ intentions.
• Perspective – appreciating multiple viewpoints and assessing what might be “right.”
• Categorisation – grouping objects or concepts meaningfully.
• Abstraction – conceiving intangible ideas like justice or freedom.
• Reasoning – evaluating and articulating valid perspectives.
• Introspection – reflecting on one’s own thoughts and motivations via the “little voice” inside the mind.

The debate about freewill

Some thinkers argue that freewill is an illusion, with all behaviour determined by genetics and experience. 

Others propose that top-down brain circuits provide genuine agency, though the precise mechanisms remain unexplained.

Practically, we must engage the cognitive machinery we have been given – denying our sense of choice is impossible.

Between stimulus and response lies a space. In that space lie our freedom and power to choose a response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness.

– attributed to Viktor Frankl

Practical implications

Exercising our freedom to choose is central to our humanity.

By accepting responsibility for our decisions, we create subjective meaning in life. Our decisions and actions are what ultimately define us.

Consciousness allows us to navigate the world with awareness, reflection, and personal growth.

It is specifically in embracing our existential freedom to make our own choices and then accept responsibility for the consequences that we are able to create subjective ‘meaning’ in our life.