William S. Robinson presents a dualistic theory of mind called Qualitative Event Realism, which argues against dominant materialist views by focusing on sensory experiences such as pain, afterimages, colors, sounds, and odors. The theory is relevant to the development of a science of consciousness pursued by philosophers, psychologists, and brain scientists. The book is aimed at students and professionals in the philosophy of mind and has cross-disciplinary appeal in cognitive psychology and the brain sciences.
A philosophical paper argues that the best form of dualism can account for how sense-organ stimulations cause brain events that cause conscious experiences, all understood as events. The first part lays out the commitments of this dualist view. The second part addresses two potential challenges—the unity of consciousness and pre-reflective self-consciousness—and shows how they can be explained consistently with the dualism. The resulting position yields fundamental clarifications in understanding consciousness.