fundamentally an organism has conscious mental states if and only if there is something that it is like to be that organism--something it is like for the organism.

Consciousness is what makes the mind-body problem really intractable.

Eventually, I believe, current attempts to understand the mind by analogy with man-made computers that can perform superbly some of the same external tasks as conscious beings will be recognized as a gigantic waste of time.

If I thought that everything I did was determined by my circumstancse and my psychological condition, I woudl feel trapped.

To look for a single general theory of how to decide the right thing to do is like looking for a single theory of how to decide what to believe.

The more details we learn about the chemical basis of life and the intricacy of the genetic code, the more unbelievable the standard historical account becomes

equally real at all stages of his life; specifically, the fact that a particular stage is present cannot be regarded as conferring on it any special status.