Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book argues that perceptual consciousness is sometimes realised by cycles of embodied and world-involving engagement. It makes an argument for extended consciousness based on ideas drawn from sensorimotor enactivism. The book argues that perceptual consciousness is realised in interactions among neural, bodily, and environmental dynamics and that these interactions have a particular temporal structure. It takes as its starting point a recent argument against extended consciousness made by Chalmers. The book is concerned with the role that prior expectations play in shaping conscious experience. It argues for a diachronic perspective on the constitution of consciousness. It serves two purposes: to speak to wider issues in the metaphysics of constitution and dependence and to further develop our account of phenomenal consciousness as constituted by embodied engagement with the world.