Abstract

Daniel Dennett’s Consciousness Explained is probably the most widely read book about consciousness ever written by a philosopher. Despite this, the book has had a surprisingly small influence on how most philosophers of mind view consciousness. This might be because many philosophers badly misunderstand the book. They claim it does not even attempt to explain consciousness, but instead denies its very existence. Outside of philosophy the book has had more influence, but is saddled by the same misunderstanding. Now, 30 years after publication, Consciousness Explained deserves reconsideration from anyone interested in consciousness. Here I make a case for this. To start, I will clear up the central misunderstanding of the book. With that done, I will explain and update Dennett’s tantalizing approach to consciousness and the mind. The result brings us very, very close to explaining consciousness. Or so I will argue.

摘要

丹尼尔·丹尼特（Daniel Dennett）的《意识解释》（Consciousness Explained）可能是有史以来由哲学家撰写的有关意识的最广泛阅读的书籍。尽管如此，这本书对大多数思想哲学家如何看待意识的影响却出奇地小。这可能是因为许多哲学家严重误解了这本书。他们声称它甚至没有试图解释意识，而是否认它的存在。在哲学之外，这本书具有更大的影响力，但也背负着同样的误解。现在，出版 30 年后，意识解释值得任何对意识感兴趣的人重新考虑。在这里，我为此提出了一个案例。首先，我将澄清对本书的核心误解。完成后，我将解释和更新丹尼特关于意识和思想的诱人方法。结果使我们非常非常接近于解释意识。或者我会争论。