Qualia and the Representational Theory of Phenomenal Character

Representationalism is an influential theory about the nature of phenomenal character. Extensive formulations of the theory can be found in (Dretske;1995) and (Tye; 1995). Much has been written on representationalism since the publication of these books. However, straightforward and concise characterizations of the theory are hard to find. In this paper I attempt to give one such. It has been my aim to clarify what exactly representationalism is a theory of, the problems it aims to solve, and how it distinguishes itself from other alternative views. Before going into the theory itself, I provide a short sketch of the philosophical context within which representationalism should be understood. In the second part, I shall elaborate on representationalism. I conclude with some problems and complications.