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Consciousness and personal identity inquiry sheet

Distinguish functional explanation from experiential explanation, then test a position against a borderline case.

Short route
20 minutes
Deep route
50 minutes
Revised
2026-07-25

20-minute route

  1. 2 min: Read the topic setup on the canonical guide.
  2. 3 min: Record an initial answer before discussion.
  3. 10 min: Compare two reasons and test one variation.
  4. 5 min: Write the strongest objection and a revised position.

50-minute extension

  1. 5 min: Silent reading and first position.
  2. 15 min: Small-group reason mapping.
  3. 15 min: Swap positions and defend the strongest rival.
  4. 10 min: Test a nearby case or changed context.
  5. 5 min: Final reflection and remaining uncertainty.

Prompt sequence

  1. 01

    What would count as explaining a feeling rather than only the behaviour that goes with it?

  2. 02

    Describe a sensation so that someone who has never had it would recognise it. Where does the attempt fail?

  3. 03

    What evidence actually persuades you that another person has an inner life?

  4. 04

    What would a machine have to do—not say—before you took its experience seriously?

  5. 05

    Which continuity would you have to lose before you stopped being the same person?

  6. 06

    Is the self something that has your thoughts, or something your thoughts assemble?

Position and process cues

  • Separate the question you are asking: how a mental process works, or why it is experienced.
  • State which evidence would be relevant to your answer—first-person report, behaviour, or physical structure.
  • Take the strongest opposing account seriously: physicalist if you lean dualist, dualist if you lean physicalist.
  • Say what your view predicts about a borderline case: an animal, an infant, or a machine.