Qualia and Materialism: Introduction
Dialogue 1993 DOI: 10.1017/s0012217300012245 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | The text observes that consciousness has become a major philosophical topic, with Dennett's Consciousness Explained as the flagship of a flotilla of new works. It notes the ironic convention that each work laments philosophical neglect of consciousness, creating the comical situation where everyone says no one is talking about it. The authors respond by inverting the convention and presenting more papers on consciousness. |
Abstract
Though the days of consciousness-raising are mostly passed, the days of consciousness seem to be upon us, or, at least, to be upon philosophers. Dennett's recentConsciousness Explainedis the flagship for a flotilla of new major works on the subject, by Flanagan (1992), Jackendoff (1988), Searle (1992), Seager (1992) and others. It seems to be something of a convention in such work that one begins by complaining that consciousness is a sorely neglected topic among philosophers; this cliché has created the faintly comical situation in whicheveryoneis saying that no one is talking about consciousness. For our part, therefore, we shall seek to escape the convention by inverting it: here are yet more papers about consciousness.