ABSTRACT
What are the prospects for a unified theory of consciousness? This is a question that needs to be asked but about which there is a certain ambivalence. This ambivalence comes from the fact that it seems like a bad idea to speculate too much about the future history of science, and because the question of whether there can be a unified theory of consciousness invites such speculation. On the other hand, this is a period of renewal in the scientific study of consciousness and some vision of the shape of theory is needed at such times.
