PHIL493/593 SP25

Special Topics in Metaphysics (PHIL493/593)
Phenomenal Consciousness
Dr. Wayne Wright
Mondays & Wednesdays  ·  11:00am–12:15pm  ·  LA5–246

This course is focused on phenomenal consciousness, which is the qualitative “what it is like” aspect of experience. It has long been wondered how phenomenal consciousness fits into the physical world. How is it that the three pound lump of gray matter between our ears can give rise to the delicious aroma of freshly baked bread, the throbbing pain of a broken finger, or the thrilling sensation of one’s stomach dropping on a rollercoaster ride? When two different people look at the sky and verbally agree that it is blue, is it possible that the sky looks radically different to them in their visual experiences? It seems safe to say that you know that you are phenomenally conscious, but how do you know that anyone else really is? Perhaps the brain is the wrong place in the world to look for answers to these questions. Maybe phenomenal consciousness is somehow altogether separate from the physical nature of the world. We will spend the first half of the course working through one of the major philosophical works on phenomenal consciousness from the 1990s. While now over twenty-five years old, the view developed in this book is still influential today. In the second half of the semester, we will go through a mix of classic and more contemporary readings, in order to get a better sense for what is at stake in the philosophical debate over consciousness and the positions that are available.

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