Abstract

Except in our most skeptical moods, it is hard for us philosophers to doubt the successes of ­science. Reflection on its achievements over the last 50 years alone is cause for optimism (e.g., the sequencing of the human genome, the development of a rich understanding of the architecture of human memory, and the discovery that the universe is rapidly expanding at an ever-increasing rate). It seems that science is quite good at achieving its epistemic ends—its goals with respect to the likes of knowledge, understanding, and explanation. But if we had to settle on one word that best represents the limits of science, at least as currently practiced, we could hardly do better than the one that unites this volume: consciousness.