Book: Sceptical Spirituality
What is ‘consciousness’?
And why is it a ‘hard problem’?
What is ‘consciousness’? In simpler terms, what are we — as ordinary people, or as philosopher/scientists — referring to when we employ the term ‘consciousness’? What imagery or ideas do we call up, or rely upon, when we think about the concept of ‘consciousness’?
And then, on top of that, why do we consider the conception ‘hard’ or ‘difficult adequately to resolve’? In other words, what it is about ‘our’ current conception of consciousness that supposedly resists an easy resolution in scientific or philosophical and intellectual terms?
Where to begin? Well, we can start by unpacking — that is, reducing to some very simple characterisations — some of the key features of that which we usually refer to when we speak about ‘consciousness’.
Opening definitions and descriptions: ‘responsiveness’
What do we usually mean when we say that something is ‘conscious’? At its simplest, to label something as conscious means that — the creature in question — ‘possesses’ a kind of ‘observable responsiveness’ to its environment, or surroundings. It might express this responsiveness through intentional, purposive behaviour — such as exploring its environment…
