Rehearsing the arguments, Mr Stannard examines the problem of consciousness, asks whether it makes sense to demand an explanation of what caused the Big Bang that created the universe, and questions the source of the laws of nature and the status of mathematics.

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At the first glimmer of consciousness, Kurzweil returns to the problem.

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He will have to do better than this if he is to justify the philosopher's role in solving the problem of consciousness.

ECONOMIST: Philosophy of consciousness

Your consciousness of the problem is raised.

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There is, he believes, a problem of consciousness, a scientific problem, but not a mystery in the way that philosophers like Thomas Nagel and Colin McGinn think there is.

ECONOMIST: Philosophy of consciousness

And even if we were able to settle upon an acceptable definition of consciousness, we really have no idea how to study the problem.

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