A Dramatic Answer to The Hard Problem
Brice Ezell
Modern Drama July 1, 2026 DOI: 10.3138/md-69-2-3-1413 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Physicalism Argument complex analysis Nothing Phrase Analytic philosophy Naturalism Epistemology Eliminative materialism Qualia Philosophy of language Literature Plot graphics |
| Key points | Argues that Stoppard uses a chronologically linear stage realist structure in The Hard Problem to rebut physicalist and materialist views of consciousness, contending that such views cannot account for the human experience of spectating drama. |
Abstract
Tom Stoppard’s 2015 play The Hard Problem centres on an argument about the eponymous philosophical concept related to the study of consciousness, a phrase coined by the Australian analytic philosopher David Chalmers. The play’s investment in philosophy of mind results in heavily discursive dialogue, which many critics of the play felt rendered the script more like a series of arguments than a human drama. While The Hard Problem may lack the overt plot devices for which Stoppard is famous, it uses a chronologically linear stage realist structure to interrogate reductive physicalist answers to the hard problem. Stoppard deploys this approach, atypically straightforward for his style, to rebut the claim that humans are nothing but their biological hardwiring. For Stoppard, physicalist and other materialist views cannot account for what humans experience when they spectate drama. The Hard Problem extends Stoppard’s career-long fascination with analytic philosophy by utilizing the theatrical experience and one of the most conventional stage genres to embrace a view of the human mind that allows for immateriality .
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |