 A second attempt to characterize unified consciousness claims that a relation among local conscious states is the crucial element, a relation usually called co-consciousness. As James    put it, in synchronic unified consciousness, we are co-conscious of A, B, and C (1909: 221). Others who centre their analysis on the notion include Parfit (1984) and Hurley (1998). These theorists seldom try to define the term ‘co-consciousness’. They treat the notion as being intuitively clear and let it function as a primitive in their analysis.