Moving forward on the problem of consciousness

Author: Chalmers D.J.

Source: Journal of Consciousness Studies, Volume 4, Number 1, 1997 , pp. 3-46(44)

Publisher: Imprint Academic

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Abstract:

I am very grateful to all the contributors to this symposium for their thoughtful comments. The various papers reflect a wide range of approaches and of views, yielding a rich snapshot of the current state of play on the problem of consciousness. There are some interesting criticisms of my point of view, which I hope to address in this reply in a way that clarifies the central issues at hand, and there are also a number of intriguing positive proposals for confronting the problem. I am honoured to have provided an opportunity to bring such a thought-provoking collection of ideas together. The reply has three main parts. In the first I consider the critiques of a generally reductive or ‘deflationary’ orientation; in the second I consider those of a generally nonreductive orientation; and in the third I make some comments on the various positive proposals.

Keywords: Consciousness; information; functionalism; hard problem; explanation; reduction; dualism; materialism; experience; qualia

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: Department of Philosophy, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. Email: chalmers@arizona.edu:

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