@boagie,
boagie wrote:Is the difference between voluntary conscious reaction as apposed to involuntary subconscious reaction, in the latter we are unaware of the mental processes taking place, is this the sole distinction.
That's a reasonable way of putting it, yes. Remember, it's a
behavior that is subconscious or innate here (or at least the impulse to perform that behavior). But instincts are more than mere biological processes, because they entail complex behaviors. I take note of a lot of this with my son, who is 3 months old, who "knows" how to nurse. for example.
Quote:To run from something fearful is not an action, it is a reaction
It's both. The reaction propagates an action, which can lead in turn to new reactions (by virtue of new conditions). If you get into this too metaphysically, though, we get to the worn out topic of ultimate cause, of course, which I've heard about enough of
Ron C. de Weijze wrote:I only add that the stimulus from the sensed environment travelling into the sensing organism, is picked up and returned by the knowing organism into the known environment, where the sensed environment picks it up again (if it is made knowledgeable through behavior). Then the cycle starts over. The posteriori part is instinct; the priori part is intellect; their coordination is intuition. Intuition of duration in Bergson's metaphysics.
Ok, I understand your point of view now. However from a biological point of view I don't think the metaphysical angle is informative. Instinct is a biological phenomenon, and the currency of biology is mechanism.