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Interview

Much Ado About Consciousness

Philosophy of Mind is a very exciting area in modern philosophy. One of those stirring up the dust is David Chalmers, an Australian philosopher who says that consciousness is a fundamental component of the universe, like space, time and mass. Andrew Chrucky asked the questions.

David Chalmers is currently Professor of Philosophy at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and as of January 1999, he will be Professor of Philosophy and Associate Director of the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona. He is the author of the well-known book, The Conscious Mind (1996), and is the subject of a collection of critical essays on this book: Explaining Consciousness: The Hard Problem (edited by Jonathan Shear, 1997). He also manages a web site which includes the most exhaustive bibliography on philosophy of mind ever assembled, a directory of various online papers pertaining to consciousness, his own papers, and his responses to his critics.

In the last few years, we have witnessed all sorts of books and articles written on the subject of consciousness, and from among these, I think your book The Conscious Mind has provoked the most controversy in a very short time – to the extent that there already has been published a book of critical essays on your work, with a response by you. Could you explain this proliferation of literature on consciousness, and why this focus on your particular book?

That’s a hard question to answer.

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