Consciousness, free action and the brain

This article has three aims. First, I want to situate an account of the con sciousness of free action, a form of consciousness I will call 'volitional consciousness: within an account of consciousness generally. To do that I h ave to explain - briefly - some general features of consciousness. Secondly I want to discuss some of the implications of volitional consciousness for the explanation of rational behaviour and the existence of the self: Final ly I want to relate this whole discussion to the traditional problem of the freedom of the will, and propose ways in which the problem of free will mi ght be solved as a neurobiological problem.