The mind is our most intimate and familiar element of reality, yet also the most mysterious. Various schools of thought propose interpretations of the mind that are consistent with their worldview, all of which face some problems. Some of these problems can be characterised as "hard", not in the sense of being difficult to solve (most problems concerning the mind are difficult), but in the...
Modern philosophy focuses on the mind’s _universal_ features, such as qualia and intentionality, typically with the aim of reducing them to physical processes. This endeavour runs into so-called “hard problems”, much like the alchemists’ pursuits in ages past. Meanwhile, the mind’s _particularity_ – its deepest, most distinctive, defining characteristic – is surprisingly overlooked. Each mind...