 Rowlands thinks that HOT theories face a vicious regress because they explain state-consciousness in terms of HOT, and because (Rowlands claims) only conscious thoughts make us aware of the things that those thoughts concern. He gives the example of coming to believe that his dog is seriously ill. If he (Rowlands) thinks and behaves in ways that are best explained by attributing to him the thought that his dog is ill, but if that thoughts isn’t entertained consciously, then surely this won’t be a case in which he is aware that his dog is ill. So if we are to become aware of our conscious states by entertaining higher-order thoughts about them, then these thoughts will have to be conscious ones, requiring us to be aware of them, in turn, via further higher-order thoughts that are also conscious; and so on.