The Hard Problem by Tom Stoppard. Short summary

5 seconds

Hilary, a psychologist, works at the Brain Institute. She thinks about her daughter, whom she gave up for adoption, and tries to find the basics of altruism. It turns out that her daughter is now adopted by a millionaire.

1 minute

A play about the difficult problems of consciousness.

Hilary Hilary, a psychologist, is in love with her teacher, Spike, who becomes her boyfriend. She receives an offer to take an important position at the Institute that studies the human brain. It is funded by millionaire Jerry Krol.

Hilary believes in God, and becomes faced with a difficult problem. What is consciousness, and how is it related to the brain? Does altruism exist?

Hilary herself lives with guilt. She gave birth to a child when she was 15. Hilary now doesn’t know where she is, and whether repentance will help her. Spike is an atheist and believes there is no altruism.

Krol has a daughter, 13-year-old Katie. At her school, Hilary and her trainee, Bo, conduct an experiment where the children see a woman being electrocuted. Hilary believes that the younger ones are more inclined to empathy and altruism.

Hilary goes on a business trip to Venice, where she meets Spike. Afterwards, Bo, who is in love with Hilary, declares to her that she faked the results of the experiment to please her. She discovers, however, that Katie is in fact her daughter.