Consciousness, philosophy, and neuroscience

The aim of this mini-review paper is to present an overview of work on consciousness from a philosophical perspective, and to argue for the continuing relevance of philosophy in consciousness research. After introducing some major philosophical positions about the relationship between consciousness and matter, we argue that the problem of consciousness that many authors have focused on—the mind–body or mind-brain problem—is only one among several problems of consciousness. We illustrate the idea that the perplexities about consciousness go beyond its relationship with matter by discussing the relationship between consciousness, self-consciousness, and selfhood. This discussion also indicates ways in which philosophy and neuroscience can learn from each other.