"THE INTELLECT" ACCORDING TO THE HIGHER-ORDER THEORIES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The central aim of this paper is to provide certain clarity regarding the question 'What role does 'the intellect' play from the perspective of a Higher-order Theory (HOT) of consciousness. My hope is to show that there are grounds for the conclusion that there is a close relation between what we call 'intellect' and the evolutionary and adaptive processes that a biological system undergoes. As for the final result, my goal is admittedly modest - to merely outline a working definition of the term 'intellect', which is, however, compatible with evolutionary theory. Nevertheless, I hope that, if successful, such definition can facilitate future research in the field.