Elaborates some of the background assumptions made by the chapters that follow and situates the theory that the author espouses (dual-content theory) within a wider context and range of alternatives. More specifically, it distinguishes between creature consciousness and state consciousness, and between access consciousness and phenomenal consciousness. And it defends representationalist accounts of consciousness against brute physicalist accounts. The chapter also introduces the remaining 11 chapters.
Keywords: dual-content theory, creature consciousness, state consciousness, access consciousness, phenomenal consciousness, representationalism, physicalism,