Consciousness is the conventional translation of vijñāna, but the Sanskrit really means “discrimination” or “discernment.” This is great—it is a function or process. This is a valuable insight for us, since “consciousness” too often connotes static substance. Vijñāna is awareness of an object and discrimination of its components and aspects, and is of six types. The Buddhist literature describes this skandha as:

1. In the Nikayas/Āgamas: cognizance, that which discerns.
2. In the Abhidhamma: a series of rapidly changing interconnected discrete acts of cognizance.
3. In some Mahayana sources: the base that supports all experience.

That which discerns. Discern originates from the Latin discernere, from dis- ‘apart’ + cernere ‘to separate.’

Consciousness is the function of taking apart. Does this fail to explain the hard problem? No. The primary taking-apart is not the aspects of marks of the object. The taking-apart of consciousness is the bifurcation of cognition into a sensation-part and an active reproduction part. The mere having of both just is consciousness.