Introduction: Conversations on the Problems of Identity, Consciousness and Mind

Abstract

A lot of things can be speculated on why problems such as identity , consciousness and mind have proven tough for philosophers to handle, but in the end, we would have to come to terms with the challenge, whether the mind has the capacity to study the mind in intrusive ways demanded by problems such as identity , consciousness and mind . In Matter and Consciousness , Churchland (Matter and consciousness. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1988) exclaims that “The curiosity of Man, and the cunning of his reason,” may “have revealed much of what Nature held hidden,” but that some “deep questions” remain largely “unanswered.” Some of these deep questions border on the nature of personal identity , consciousness and mind . There is a curious observation that can be made on the list above: they share something fundamental in common in that they are problems that concern the nature of the core of our being. This introductory chapter examines and introduces three theories namely; sense-phenomenalism, equiphenomenalism and proto-phenomenalism which are new attempts at addressing the problems of identity, consciousness and mind put forward in this book by J. O. Chimakonam, S. T. Segun and A. D. Attoe respectively. This chapter moderates the conversations among the three actors and show what new inroads can be developed from the three approaches.