What is there to represent (phenomena) without the senses and the sensing of the world (noumena)? A non-sensing being would have nothing to think about (no phenomena) without the objects of the physical world. In other words, thought is always, firstly, about things, real things, and then, and only then, is it about abstract (mental) things. A life born of simply a brain without sensory input but nourished by a circulatory system responds to nothing, has no thoughts. Can it be called “alive” in the conventional sense?
A person fallen into a coma may have thoughts, “mental objects” if you will, and may struggle to return to the world of consciousness and awareness. Such is the will to live. But a sense-less being would not even have the will to return, or awareness that there is a place to return to.
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