I would suggest that consciousness is a faculty that is independent of thoughts, emotions or sensations. I can think of instances where I was aware of myself in

I would suggest that consciousness is a faculty that is independent of thoughts, emotions or sensations. I can think of instances where I was aware of myself in the absence (or at least greatly reduced levels) of thought, emotion or sensations. Perhaps the question is whether qualia [1] are binary or not. This is a question that is probably impossible to answer because there is nothing else to measure it with. To paraphrase Julian Jaynes, what's more immediate that immediate awareness itself? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualia