The Nature of Consciousness

The nature of consciousness is hotly debated among philosophers, scientists and artists. We have thoughts, we feel, we remember the past and we anticipate the future. We think that is what it means to be conscious, but nobody can explain just exactly what that is or how it comes into being. Host Frank Stasio explores consciousness with Bill Lycan, a philosophy professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Cathy Davidson, a professor of interdisciplinary studies at Duke University and the author of “Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn” (Viking/2011); Eric Wilson, a professor of English at Wake Forest University and author of the book “My Business Is to Create: Blake's Infinite Writing” (University of Iowa Press/2011); and John Supko, a composer and assistant professor of music at Duke.