David Papineau's theory posits that consciousness is fundamentally identical to brain states, rejecting the notion of a dualist separation between mind and body. He argues that the apparent 'explanatory gap' in understanding consciousness arises from our dualist intuitions rather than any actual deficiency in physicalism. Papineau emphasizes that mind-brain identities can only be established through empirical evidence and that the feeling of an explanatory gap is a result of our inability to fully embrace physicalism.

• David Papineau