# Phenomenal transparency and cognitive self-reference1 THOMAS METZINGER (2023-12-17 18-46-27) **Keywords:** consciousness, epistemic transparency, phenomenal transparency, representation, self-consciousness, self-model **Abstract:** . A representationalist analysis of strong first-person phenomena is developed (Baker 1998), and it is argued that conscious, cognitive self-reference can be naturalized under this representationalist analysis. According to this view, the phenomenal first-person perspective is a condition of possibility for the emergence of a cognitive first-person perspective. Cognitive self-reference always is reference to the phenomenal content of a transparent self-model. The concepts of phenomenal transparency and introspection are clarified. More generally, I suggest that the concepts of “phenomenal opacity” and “phenomenal transparency” are interesting instruments for analyzing conscious, self-representational content, and that their relevance in understanding reflexive, i.e., cognitive subjectivity may have been overlooked in the past. Key words: consciousness, epistemic transparency, phenomenal transparency, representation, self-consciousness, self-model **Authors:** [[Publishers. Printed]]