Mind explained: On a book by Daniel Dennett

Daniel Dennett, in his recent book Consciousness Explained, attempts to clarify important philosophy-of-mind issues by applying to them scientific and technological criteria. On the first issue, he notes that explaining a phenomenon means to get rid of the original puzzle: consciousness is explained on the basis of things which are not conscious. On the second issue, he presents impressive evidence about how much one can clarify a philosophical problem by applying to it the engineering criterion of what is possible to build. The final upshot of Dennett's analysis is the proposal of a new model for the mind, the Multiple-Draft Model, to replace the dualist traditional one, the Cartesian-Theater Model.