Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a critical introduction to a range of philosophical theories of consciousness. It sets the stage with a discussion of metaphysical problems raised by consciousness. Consciousness is philosophically troubling because it does not seem to fit into the scientific picture of the world and consciousness is the only phenomenon that has this problematic status. The book discusses how Descartes' views on mind remain highly relevant to current concerns. It explores connectionism in general and how it might serve as a model of the brain. The book describes a variant of standard higher-order thoughts (HOTs) theory which relaxes the conditions that a mental state's being conscious requires an occurrent thought about it. Dispositional HOT theory demands only that the candidate mental state be disposed to produce an appropriate HOT. The book examines Dennett's contention whose concept of experiential 'qualia' is incoherent.