आपण स्वतः व भोवतालची परिस्थिती यांतील संबंध जाणण्याची क्षमता, स्वतःचा दृष्टिकोन, विचार तसेच आपण स्वतः इतरांपासून वेगळे अस्तित्वात आहोत असे जाणण्याची क्षमता म्हणजे जाणीव. मानसशास्त्र व मनाचे तत्त्वज्ञान यांमध्ये हा एक मोठा अभ्यासाचा गहन विषय आहे.

A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditionally identified as such, many more are now recognized. Senses used by non-human organisms are even greater in variety and number. During sensation, sense organs collect various stimuli for transduction, meaning transformation into a form that can be understood by the brain. Sensation and perception are fundamental to nearly every aspect of an organism's cognition, behavior and thought.