Self-Consciousness and Practical Consciousness

A common instance of self-consciousness, rarely recognized as such, is when one pays attention to what one is doing. In such cases, one is not merely observing what one is doing, one guides it, as if one were carrying out a set of instructions. Hence, in the process, Consciousness functions as a cause of behavior. Thus, this Self-Consciousness can be classified as Practical Consciousness, in contrast with the mere Consciousness of Practice. Now, the physiological motions that can be affected by this guidance are not only those of the limbs, but of the sense organs as well, e. g. keeping one's eyes and ears trained on some object. Hence, in the 'consciousness' of an outer object, there are distinct strata that are often conflated in some theories of Perception, such as in the Phenomenological one adopted by Marx-Engels. The suppressed distinction also signifies the main shortcoming in their concept of Practice.