Abstract

In this chapter, I will advance my discussion of the propertyhood of consciousness in light of some influential philosophical theories of properties. My goal in doing so is to shed some light on the nature of consciousness. The discussion advanced in this chapter will, I hope, give an important philosophical foundation for those who work on the science of consciousness. I will begin my discussion by framing and locating the PCQ (the propertyhoodness of consciousness question) within the broader contemporary debates on the nature of mental properties. Following this, my discussion will proceed in five stages. In stage one, I will present a brief exposition of some of the dominant and representative views of the metaphysics of properties such as Platonic universals, Aristotelian universals, and Nominalism. In stage two, I will present the analysis of consciousness taken as a property within the framework of the theories of properties discussed in stage one. Ultimately, I will find these theories of properties wanting in terms of unpacking the true nature of consciousness. In stage three, I will discuss the location problem concerning the PCQ. In stage four, I will present an alternative model of consciousness called the bearer-dependent model of consciousness. I will develop this model of consciousness against the backdrop of the discussions advanced in stages one, two, and three. Finally, in stage five, I will discuss why the bearer-dependent model of consciousness provides us with an excellent conceptual framework to account for the co-emergence of consciousness and its bearer on the one hand and the sense in which consciousness can be said to be a property on the other.