Sensing Qualia: Solving the Hard Problem of Consciousness

Sensing Qualia: Solving the Hard Problem of Consciousness

A new, naturalistic theory of consciousness and sensory experience. Philosophers of mind and neuroscientists often debate what they call the hard problem of consciousness, that is, how we might account for qualia—our subjective experiences of phenomena like color, taste, pain, smell, and more. In Sensing Qualia , Paul G. Skokowski surveys the most influential theories of mind since Descartes in order to establish a new theory he calls sensory naturalism, which recognizes the senses as natural detectors of physical properties in the world. Drawing on neuroscience, physics, and philosophy, Skokowski provides a naturalistic framework for studying qualia in the physical world and explores the limits of qualia in androids and AI. The result is a compelling explanation of qualia for anyone curious about the nature of conscious experience in humans and AI. “ Sensing Qualia slays the philosophical monsters of swampmen, zombies, and other threats to materialism that may arise from the existence of qualia. With clear prose and no-nonsense arguments, Skokowski takes us on an entertaining tour of philosophy of mind.” -- Craig Callender, University of California, San Diego “Skokowski tackles some of the toughest questions in philosophy of mind. Tracing centuries of debate and critiquing today’s leading theories, he introduces a powerful new framework for understanding our subjective experience. A rigorous and groundbreaking work, this book will reshape how we all think about mind and matter.” -- David Eagleman, Stanford University “Where is that conscious you in the brain? Philosophers and scientists have tripped over each other for millennia trying to capture the idea of you in tractable terms. I highly recommend Skokowski’s wonderfully lucid yet detailed account of this debate. Reviewing theories of how the brain enables the ineffable you , Skokowski also gratifyingly proposes an actual biological mechanism. A must-read!” -- Michael S. Gazzaniga, University of California, Santa Barbara “Skokowski offers a marvelously comprehensive and accessible account of the debate over consciousness—with insights about history, integrated information theory, quantum mechanics, and AI. Along the way, he gives us his externalist account of qualia, arguing that it makes qualia compatible with materialism.” -- Frank Jackson, Australian National University Paul G. Skokowski is executive director and cofounder of the Center for the Explanation of Consciousness at Stanford University and a fellow in philosophy at St. Edmund Hall, University of Oxford. He is editor of Information and Mind .