What is consciousness for?

Abstract

Abstract The question “What is consciousness for?” is considered with particular relevance to objects created using interactive technologies. It is argued that an understanding of artificial life with it attendant notion of robotic consciousness is not separable from an understanding of human consciousness. The positions of Daniel Dennett and John Searle are compared. Dennett believes that by understanding the process of evolutionary design we can work towards an understanding of consciousness. Searle's view is that in most cases mental attributes such as consciousness are either dispositional or are observer relative. This opposition is taken as the basis for a discussion of the purposes of consciousness in general and how these might be manifest in human and robotic forms of life.