Chapter 1
1. Describe the mind-body problem.
Name some traditional solutions to it.
2. What was Descartes' solution to the mind-body problem?
3. Why did behaviourism flourish and why did it ultimately fail?
4. What does the term 'intentionality' mean?
5. Describe the mysterious gap in as many different ways as you can.
6. Who described the 'hard problem' and what is it?
7. Are you a dualist or a monist?
Chapter 2
1. Who asked ‘What is it like to be a bat?’? and why?
2. What is it like to be a .... ? make up some questions of your own and consider how you would answer them.
3. What is a quale? Give some examples.
4. Give two opposing answers to the question ‘What does Mary learn when she comes out of her black and white room?’
5. What is the philosopher’s zombie? List as many people as you can who believe that (a) a zombie could exist (b) a zombie could not
exist. What do you think?
6. Give at least three reasons for arguing that there is no hard problem.
7. Do you think the Hard Problem is a real problem that needs solving? If so, how would you set about solving it?
Chapter 3
1 What potential problems are there with the idea that consciousness has causal efficacy?
2. What evidence suggests a dissociation between visuomotor control and visual perception.
3. Does the experiment by Castiello et al prove that consciousness comes too late to play a role in fast reaching movements?
4. How do dualist theories explain the interaction between consciousness and the brain?
5. What is functionalism and can it explain phenomenal consciousness?
6. Describe the two main kinds of representational theory of consciousness.
7. What functions does consciousness have according to Global Workspace Theory ?
8. Do you believe that consciousness has any causal power?
Chapter 4
1. In what ways does being conscious feel like being in a theatre?
2. How do theories of attention use theatre imagery?
3. Who coined the term ‘Cartesian Theatre’ (CT) and what is meant by it?
4. What is wrong with the idea of the CT?
5. How does Baars use the theatre metaphor in his theory? Is it a CT?
6. Name three theories that avoid theatre imagery altogether.
7. Explain, in your own words, Dennett’s theory of multiple drafts.
8. Do you think the metaphor of the theatre is helpful or unhelpful for studying consciousness?
Chapter 5
1 Name three kinds of involuntary attention.
2. What did James mean by the ‘cause theory’ and the ‘effect theory’ of attention?
3. What is the evidence that half a second of neural activity is required for ‘neuronal adequacy’?
4. What is ‘subjective antedating? And how does it work?
5. What is the 'attentional blink' and how can it be demonstrated?
6. Describe three phenomena that seem to show anomalies in time.
7. According to Dennett, what is the difference between Orwellian and Stalinesque revisions?
8. Do you believe that consciousness lags behind the events of the physical world?
Chapter 6
1. What is meant by the phrase 'grand illusion'?
2. Give two alternative explanations for the apparent filling-in of the blind spot.
3. List some kinds of display that are, and are not, filled in across a scotoma.
4. Why did Dennett imagine a room papered all over with identical portraits of Marilyn Monroe?
5. Describe two or more methods for demonstrating change blindness.
6. What implications does change blindness have for theories of vision?
7. How might change blindness affect us in daily life?
8. What is inattentional blindness? Give some examples.
9. Why are magicians' tricks relevant to consciousness?
10. Describe in your own words how you think vision works. If you are consciously seeing a book, a cup of coffee, or your friend's
face, what do you think it is that makes this visual experience conscious?
1. Describe the mind-body problem.
Name some traditional solutions to it.
2. What was Descartes' solution to the mind-body problem?
3. Why did behaviourism flourish and why did it ultimately fail?
4. What does the term 'intentionality' mean?
5. Describe the mysterious gap in as many different ways as you can.
6. Who described the 'hard problem' and what is it?
7. Are you a dualist or a monist?
Chapter 2
1. Who asked ‘What is it like to be a bat?’? and why?
2. What is it like to be a .... ? make up some questions of your own and consider how you would answer them.
3. What is a quale? Give some examples.
4. Give two opposing answers to the question ‘What does Mary learn when she comes out of her black and white room?’
5. What is the philosopher’s zombie? List as many people as you can who believe that (a) a zombie could exist (b) a zombie could not
exist. What do you think?
6. Give at least three reasons for arguing that there is no hard problem.
7. Do you think the Hard Problem is a real problem that needs solving? If so, how would you set about solving it?
Chapter 3
1 What potential problems are there with the idea that consciousness has causal efficacy?
2. What evidence suggests a dissociation between visuomotor control and visual perception.
3. Does the experiment by Castiello et al prove that consciousness comes too late to play a role in fast reaching movements?
4. How do dualist theories explain the interaction between consciousness and the brain?
5. What is functionalism and can it explain phenomenal consciousness?
6. Describe the two main kinds of representational theory of consciousness.
7. What functions does consciousness have according to Global Workspace Theory ?
8. Do you believe that consciousness has any causal power?
Chapter 4
1. In what ways does being conscious feel like being in a theatre?
2. How do theories of attention use theatre imagery?
3. Who coined the term ‘Cartesian Theatre’ (CT) and what is meant by it?
4. What is wrong with the idea of the CT?
5. How does Baars use the theatre metaphor in his theory? Is it a CT?
6. Name three theories that avoid theatre imagery altogether.
7. Explain, in your own words, Dennett’s theory of multiple drafts.
8. Do you think the metaphor of the theatre is helpful or unhelpful for studying consciousness?
Chapter 5
1 Name three kinds of involuntary attention.
2. What did James mean by the ‘cause theory’ and the ‘effect theory’ of attention?
3. What is the evidence that half a second of neural activity is required for ‘neuronal adequacy’?
4. What is ‘subjective antedating? And how does it work?
5. What is the 'attentional blink' and how can it be demonstrated?
6. Describe three phenomena that seem to show anomalies in time.
7. According to Dennett, what is the difference between Orwellian and Stalinesque revisions?
8. Do you believe that consciousness lags behind the events of the physical world?
Chapter 6
1. What is meant by the phrase 'grand illusion'?
2. Give two alternative explanations for the apparent filling-in of the blind spot.
3. List some kinds of display that are, and are not, filled in across a scotoma.
4. Why did Dennett imagine a room papered all over with identical portraits of Marilyn Monroe?
5. Describe two or more methods for demonstrating change blindness.
6. What implications does change blindness have for theories of vision?
7. How might change blindness affect us in daily life?
8. What is inattentional blindness? Give some examples.
9. Why are magicians' tricks relevant to consciousness?
10. Describe in your own words how you think vision works. If you are consciously seeing a book, a cup of coffee, or your friend's
face, what do you think it is that makes this visual experience conscious?
