What is consciousness? How does the subjective character of consciousness fit into an objective world? How can there be a science of consciousness? This book develops a unified framework that addresses these questions and many others. Starting with a statement of the “hard problem” of consciousness, the book builds a positive framework for the science of consciousness and a nonreductive vision of the metaphysics of consciousness. It then develops a positive theory in new directions. The book includes original accounts of how we think and know about consciousness, of the unity of consciousness, ... More

What is consciousness? How does the subjective character of consciousness fit into an objective world? How can there be a science of consciousness? This book develops a unified framework that addresses these questions and many others. Starting with a statement of the “hard problem” of consciousness, the book builds a positive framework for the science of consciousness and a nonreductive vision of the metaphysics of consciousness. It then develops a positive theory in new directions. The book includes original accounts of how we think and know about consciousness, of the unity of consciousness, and of how consciousness relates to the external world. Along the way, the book develops many provocative ideas: the “consciousness meter,” the Garden of Eden as a model of perceptual experience, and The Matrix as a guide to the deepest philosophical problems about consciousness and the external world.