Consciousness

What is consciousness?  Many philosophers have pondered this question for centuries.  Is consciousness a inheret, biological function?  Or is it an intentional concept that we use to think and percieve?  Consciousness is most easily defined as working memory and awareness.  One view of the the conscience is the intentional view, which states that the conscience is the ability to represent other states of affairs.  The intentional view is based on concept and what we supposedly understand.  Another view is the phenominal view, which views conscience as the qualitative aspect of our subjective feelings.  Phenominality is based in perceptions, such as feelings and taste.  One could also consider conscience from the Functionalist point of view.  Functionalism states that everything, including consciousness, is a mental state defined by biological functions.  I personally find the phenominal point of view to be the most interesting.