Subjective character of experience
The subjective character of experience, also referred to as subjective experience, is the first-person aspect of conscious experience. Subjective experience is commonly described as encompassing sensory experiences and mental events, including perceptions, emotions, thoughts, memories, intentions, and related conscious phenomena that arise from the unique perspective of an individual. The concept is central to philosophy of mind, psychology, phenomenology, and consciousness studies, where it is used to describe the fact that conscious experiences are directly accessible only to the subject undergoing them.
The expression subjective character of experience was introduced by philosopher Thomas Nagel in his influential 1974 essay "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?", in which he argued that every conscious organism has its own unique point of view. Nagel maintained that although objective scientific investigation can describe the physical and functional characteristics of an organism, it cannot fully capture what it is like for that organism to have its own experiences. His argument became a landmark in discussions concerning consciousness, reductionism, and the explanatory limits of physical accounts of the mind. Although the term originated in philosophy, the study of subjective experience has expanded considerably across several disciplines. Contemporary researchers in psychology, phenomenology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and health sciences investigate subjective experience using a variety of first-person research methods, while also examining its relationship to objective behavioural and physiological measures. As a result, subjective experience is now regarded as both a philosophical concept and an important subject of empirical investigation.