Is consciousness what really distinguishes us from other living beings? Is it reducible to biochemical processes? If this is true, which role do pain, love, dreams, and joy play in such processes? These are some of the eternal questions that philosophers and scientists are discussing since Descartes. In his book Consciousness, now considered a classic and reprinted in Italy by Raffaello Cortina Editore, Daniel C. Dennett argues that theories on consciousness are all wrong, even though their intuitive simplicity leads us to believe them to be true. These theories are discussed in the webinar proposed by SYNAPSIS, in which the American philosopher of the mind, now octogenarian, talks with Benedetta Giovanola, professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Macerata, Italy. It is instead true – Dennett argues – that there is no trace in our brain of a “central author”, the producer of a single and definitive stream of consciousness. Our mind does not function like a dictatorship or a monarchy, but rather like a very sophisticated democracy. Quoting Dennett: «I explain the various phenomena that make up what we call consciousness, showing how they are all physical effects of the activities of the brain. I propose analogies, thought experiments, and other devices to break down old habits of thought and help organize the facts into a single, coherent view that is strikingly different from the traditional view of consciousness».