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As part of the argument for the superiority of his HOT (Higher Order Thought) theory of phenomenal consciousness, Carruthers offers an answer to the question of how phenomenal consciousness evolved, and he claims that this answer is superior to alternatives based upon other theories. I wish to demur. Evolutionary considerations are the cornerstone of Carruthers' rejection of alternative HOE (Higher Order Experience) accounts of phenomenal consciousness, which he argues do not successfully explain the cognitive role of phenomenal consciousness. They are also a cornerstone of his denial that nonhuman animals, young children, and autistic individuals are phenomenally conscious. The conjectured evolutionary story is too weak for either role.

In Carruthers' story, phenomenal consciousness emerges as an evolutionary "by-product, not directly selected for" (2000:230) of a two-stage selection process: First there was selection for first-order sensory representations (unconscious......

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