Consciousness in questions

摘要

What is it like to be conscious? Whereas nobody knows, by def-ninition, what is it like to be unconscious, everybody knows what isnit like to be conscious. Those of our mental states that are con-nscious have a distinctive phenomenal character, which we cannexperience and report. For example, there is something aboutnseeing things that has its own distinctive character, which differsnfrom hearing or smelling them. This property of having a distinc-ntive phenomenal character is shared, not only by conscious mentalnstates built up from sensory ingredients but also extends to statesnarising from ‘within’—such as beliefs, thoughts, desires, hopes ornintentions, all of which correspond to distinctive experiences.nWhat gives conscious mental states their distinctive quality isntheir content: they are about something or, better, they representnsomething; and this representation determines their phenomenalncharacter.