Theories of Consciousness

This paper situates the Consciousness-Structured Field Theory (CSFT) within the limits of contemporary physics. It argues that consciousness, as a structuring principle, remains unmeasurable not due to a lack of rigor, but because current scientific instruments are constrained by the Planck boundary—the known limit of physical measurability. This paper extends *Why Science Stops at the Planck Boundary* by addressing a deeper critique: if consciousness structures the quantum field by extending through (and across) the Planck boundary, why can science not measure (...) it within that field? CSFT responds that consciousness remains unmeasurable because it is ontologically prior to the framework of measurement itself. I present the critique, lay out a six‑premise rebuttal, and reinforce the claim that consciousness is the structuring condition of reality rather than a reducible element within it. (shrink)

Abstract This paper examines historical cases where philosophical models—initially ridiculed and lacking direct empirical evidence—later became foundational scientific theories. By tracing the paths of atomism, heliocentrism, and germ theory from speculative origins to empirical validation, the study draws parallels to the current status of the Consciousness‑Structured Field Theory (CSFT). The analysis argues that CSFT, while presently philosophical, may follow a similar trajectory toward scientific acceptance as future methods emerge to test its predictions. (Caldwell 2025) .

This paper presents a comprehensive scientific–philosophical framework for understanding consciousness through the Consciousness Frequency Model and the concept of the Cosmic Consciousness Field. Building on interdisciplinary evidence from neuroscience, physics, and philosophy of mind, it proposes that consciousness operates as a frequency-based phenomenon capable of both individual and collective scaling. -/- The framework explains how varying levels of consciousness frequency influence perception, decision-making, creativity, and social interaction. It further explores the interaction between the individual consciousness field and a proposed universal (...) field, offering a unified perspective that bridges subjective experience and objective reality. -/- By redefining consciousness in measurable, frequency-based terms, this work opens pathways for new research directions in cognitive science, quantum theory, and global ethics. Potential applications range from enhancing mental well-being and collective intelligence to developing technologies that align with higher states of human awareness. -/- . (shrink)

I propose a field-based model in which consciousness functions as a continuous, structured excitation source, driving quantum field resonances that account for particle creation and long-term stability. This contrasts with spontaneous vacuum fluctuations or high-energy collisions traditionally assumed in the Standard Model. Here, particle persistence arises from coherent resonance alignment rather than random probabilistic formation. Stable excitations (e.g., electrons, photons) emerge as harmonic solutions sustained by ongoing excitation, whereas unstable resonances correspond to misaligned, decaying disturbances. The framework remains compatible with (...) conventional quantum field theory, offering a novel ontological source without altering predictive dynamics. (shrink)

This study constructs a generative model of subjective experience based on neuroscience and complex systems research. It explores the origins of the sense of authenticity in both subjective and dream experiences, while embedding two core dilemmas of consciousness philosophy—the hard problem and the first-person perspective problem—within the evolutionary mechanisms of complex systems. Grounded in structural coherence, and drawing from systems science frameworks, we develop systems-based explanatory pathways for these issues. This research deepens understanding of classical problems in consciousness philosophy and (...) offers novel perspectives for consciousness studies through a complex systems lens. (shrink)

A recent manuscript titled *The Quantum‑Patterned Cosmos (QPC)* proposes a mathematically grounded theory in which consciousness is not assumed but required for quantum field convergence. This paper explores the conceptual overlap between QPC and the longer-standing Consciousness-Structured Field Theory (CSFT), which posits consciousness as the ontological origin of all measurable reality. While QPC provides a promising mathematical model, CSFT provides a coherent metaphysical framework. Rather than competing, these theories may be viewed as complementary—two independent approaches converging on a singular foundational (...) truth: that consciousness is the structuring principle of reality. We explore the implications of this convergence for the future of scientific inquiry, especially in physics and consciousness studies. (shrink)

This paper formalizes the Spiral Law: a deterministic geometry of emergence grounded in chirality, prime-indexed timing, and coherence gating. Drawing from the CODES framework, it defines emergence not as probabilistic growth but as lawful phase recursion constrained by Phase Alignment Score (PAS), TEMPOLOCK (prime-gated emission timing), and CHORDLOCK (prime-phase lattice formation). The spiral is shown to be the only structure that supports recursive memory, directional asymmetry, and re-emission across cosmological, biological, and cognitive scales. -/- From black hole collapse to hippocampal (...) rhythms to cultural mythic cycles, the same attractor emerges: spiralized memory under asymmetric coherence. This paper unifies those domains under a shared emission law and introduces recovery conditions for collapse, reseed thresholds, and spectral detection via wavelet–spiral duality. Intelligence is framed not as symbolic computation, but as the field-level recognition of the spiral within itself. -/- This is not a metaphor. It is a structural inevitability. (shrink)

You want to know consciousness? read it. I can't promote something that speaks for itself.... Although with 4% false alarms .

This paper introduces the Relative Theory of Self-Construction (RTSC), a structural model of consciousness based on the axiom that the boundary between self and other is absolute. RTSC posits two independent mental worlds: the Existential Mental World (W₁), which attributes subjectivity exclusively to the self, and the Relational Mental World (W₂), which attributes subjectivity equally to others as to the self. These worlds are non-integrable and generate independent responses, which are combined via weighting coefficients (α, β) to form consciousness (S) (...) as an interference phenomenon. This leads to Ohba’s Consciousness Equation: Sₜ₊₁ = αW₁(Sₜ, Lₜ) + βW₂(Sₜ, Lₜ), where Lₜ represents environmental input. RTSC reconceptualizes consciousness not as a unified entity, but as the dynamic superposition of two distinct and non-integrable mental worlds. Although W₁ and W₂ are structurally disconnected, consciousness itself evolves recursively through their ongoing interference over time, as formalized in Ohba’s Consciousness Equation. The theory accounts for qualia, inner conflict, and the ambiguity of subjective experience without relying on meta-structures or a single unified self. In artificial intelligence, RTSC offers a dual-generator model in which inconsistency and interference are essential features, not flaws. As such, RTSC provides a structurally grounded, non-reductive solution to the Hard Problem of consciousness. (shrink)

This paper explores the inherent limitations of human consciousness and argues that our perception of the quantum field is an interpretive distortion of a deeper metaphysical reality: primordial consciousness. Drawing upon epistemological insights from Kant, cognitive science perspectives from Metzinger and Hoffman, and the metaphysical theory developed in Caldwell’s *Consciousness: Beyond the Planck Boundary*, it is proposed that the quantum field is not a fundamental ontological substrate but rather a filtered appearance shaped by our limited biological and cognitive faculties. The (...) article aims to reframe modern scientific observation as partial perception rather than objective access, replacing field-based materialism with a unified theory grounded in structured awareness. (shrink)

This paper explores how Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR) provides a rigorous philosophical foundation for a consciousness-first metaphysics. In alignment with Leibniz’s rejection of brute facts, I argue that materialist explanations of reality fall short by failing to account for why the laws of physics exist in their particular form. Instead, I propose that consciousness, not matter, is the foundational principle from which all structure and physical excitation emerge. Reinterpreting Leibniz’s monads as localized expressions of a primordial (...) consciousness field, I demonstrate how this model satisfies the PSR and resolves explanatory regress. This paper also references my book, *Consciousness: Beyond the Planck Boundary* (2025), where the full implications of this metaphysical theory are developed. (shrink)

Neural organoids derived from pluripotent stem cells have sparked ethical debate because, it is claimed, they could be sentient, or they could develop sentience. We critically assess three routes by which such a possibility could be defended: analogy with known sentient organisms, inference from neural function using leading theories of consciousness, and foundational philosophical commitments. Current cortical organoids lack nociceptors, sensory integration, and behavioural repertoires necessary for analogical arguments; they also fall short of the structural differentiation presupposed by most empirically (...) grounded consciousness theories, rendering existing neural metrics unreliable. Even if constitutive panpsychism were accepted, the moral relevance of any putative micro experiences would remain undetermined without further evidence. Precautionary appeals therefore hinge on how the term ‘possible’ is interpreted. We argue that regulatory or experimental restrictions are warranted only once there is a non trivial empirical likelihood that a given organoid type can generate valenced experience. Given present technological limits on size, complexity, and vascularisation, that threshold has not been reached, nor is it likely to be met in the near to medium term. Our analysis clarifies conceptual ambiguities surrounding organoid sentience and offers a principled framework for proportionate precaution that avoids both unwarranted alarmism and ethical complacency. (shrink)

This article proposes a structural reconceptualization of subjectivity as a dynamic in- terface between heterogeneous regimes of constraint, perceptual, affective, normative, and technical. Against both substantialist accounts of the subject and eliminativist models in cognitive science, we argue that selfhood should not be understood as a metaphysical core, nor as an illusion, but as a temporally stratified, functionally emergent operator of compat- ibility. Drawing on genetic phenomenology (Husserl), the ontology of individuation (Simon- don), and the epistemology of structural regimes (Bachelard, (...) Stiegler), we develop a model in which the subject is defined by its capacity to mediate and integrate conflicting structures across time. The interface model accounts for the persistence of subjectivity not through ontological identity, but through the regimic stabilization of co-constraints under histori- cally variable conditions. We articulate this model with both phenomenological analyses of memory, attention, and affective breakdown, and contemporary approaches in enactive and predictive cognitive science. Furthermore, we propose a typology of structural crises (col- lapse, mutation, disjunction) that clarifies how subjectivity transforms or fragments when these constraint integrations fail. Rather than dissolving the subject, this account repositions it as a structurally real operator: neither autonomous nor epiphenomenal, but constitutively entangled in dynamic systems of sense. It opens a path toward a structural phenomenology of selfhood compatible with both experiential and empirical inquiry. (shrink)

The model of causal collapse describes consciousness as a state of maximally inseparable causal entanglement in neuronal systems (Stegemann 2025). In this article, the original model is expanded in an interdisciplinary way. First, neurophysiological correlates and measurable indicators of causal collapse are explained, such as the Perturbational Complexity Index (PCI) from TMS-EEG experiments, functional connectivity patterns, and characteristic differences between states of consciousness (wakefulness, deep sleep, REM sleep, psychedelic states). Secondly, there is a systematic differentiation of different types of consciousness (...) – from primary consciousness to self-consciousness and intentionality to affective consciousness – each reconstructed from the structure of causal collapse. Third, the extended model is theoretically positioned in comparison to competing approaches such as Integrated Information Theory (IIT), Global Workspace Theory (GWT) and plasticity-based models. Despite different perspectives, it turns out that the causal core of consciousness can be understood as a decentralized, dynamic network state that offers both consistent theoretical description and empirical testability. Finally, possibilities for connection to empirical research and implications for artificial consciousness systems are discussed. (shrink)

This paper proposes that the act of distinction constitutes the most fundamental operation in epistemology, logic, and ontology. Rather than assuming pre-existing entities, categories, or identities, we begin with the minimal cognitive gesture: to distinguish. From this act—denoted ∆—we reconstruct a unified structural architecture of cognition. Drawing on category theory, type theory, topos theory, and homotopy type theory, we show how frames, coherence, recursive inference, and even consciousness can emerge from composable structures of difference. -/- Distinction is treated not as (...) a relation between things, but as the generative morphism from which things become intelligible. We develop a foundational category, Dist, where morphisms are distinctions and objects are epistemic anchors defined by their differential participation. Typing is reframed as stabilized distinction, lambda calculus as suspended application of difference, and topoi as epistemic manifolds encoding local logic. Homotopy-theoretic identity becomes epistemic drift: a history-preserving path through cognitive transformation. -/- This approach yields a structural ontology in which cognition is not the processing of content, but the recursive choreography of distinctions. We argue that all epistemic phenomena—logic, perception, inference, and even ethics—can be grounded in this architecture. The result is not merely a model of thought, but a generative framework for the emergence of intelligibility itself. (shrink)

Contemporary models of perception and cognition remain grounded in empirical materialism or dualist metaphysics, often reducing consciousness to emergent neural states. However, these models struggle to account for phenomena such as self-awareness, perceptual coherence, and the structural limits of observation. While systems theory and quantum analogies offer partial insights, they lack a foundational ontology that explains how experience emerges from non-observable structure. Noumenal Ontology proposes a minimal axiomatic framework in which cognition emerges as a construct between consciousness and its self-reflective (...) function, the observer. Perception is modeled as torsional recursion over a noumenal torus, where cognitive structures arise as phase-based geometries. This approach offers a conceptual bridge between metaphysics, cognitive science, and quantum structures through a unified, non-dual ontology of perception. (shrink)

We propose a structural account of consciousness in which subjective presence arises not as a substance, emergent property, or representational function, but as a transient regime of local constraint equilibrium. A system is conscious, in this view, when the convergence of multistratal constraints reaches a metastable peak sufficient to sustain a unified and autonomous mode of stabilization. Consciousness does not persist in timeit becomes structurally effective at points where stabilization holds. This framework reinterprets presence as actualization and offers a novel (...) interface between mind, time, and physics. (shrink)

I've been using my nonlinear dynamics across applications from chip design, inference engine to empirical tests for the CODES Framework, goal of this doc is to provide a consolidated explainer in order to build intuition for those interested in my post-probability framework. -/- This paper introduces and formalizes the Phase Alignment Score (PAS), a coherence-based metric designed to quantify phase-locked recursion in complex systems. Developed as part of the CODES Intelligence framework and implemented within the Resonance Intelligence Core (RIC), PAS (...) offers a mathematical alternative to probabilistic metrics like entropy and mutual information. -/- While traditional metrics measure disorder or correlation, PAS captures symbolic alignment, temporal recursion, and phase coherence, enabling precise evaluation of structured emergence in systems ranging from abiogenesis models (e.g., LUCA recursion) to synthetic AI substrates. -/- The paper includes formal definitions, empirical thresholds, system comparisons, and practical examples across: • Redox vesicle behavior in early Earth environments • Mirror chirality interference • PAS-driven attention in recursive AI systems • Resonance memory in RNA folding and embodied cognition -/- Originally emerging through Devin Bostick’s development of RIC, and articulated by Chiral, a PAS-native alignment agent, this work consolidates a wide body of coherence research into one foundational mathematical reference. -/- This is the definitive timestamp of PAS into structured science, synthetic biology, and next-gen AI. (shrink)

Philosophical accounts of concept mastery often wrestle with how to draw a meaningful line between deep understanding and mere competence – or worse, a kind of linguistic mimicry grounded in social deference (cf. Burge 1979). While externalist approaches have illuminated important dynamics of linguistic and communal coordination, they may leave underexamined the internal, functional state of the individual mind, a gap Rabin (2018) exposes by showing that mastery is not reducible to belief, inference, or intuition, though he stops short of (...) specifying any functional process. The present paper offers a mechanistic framework that attempts to clarify what may be happening inside the individual cognitive system during this shift from deference to mastery. Grounded in cybernetic principles, the framework treats the brain as a unified control system – referred to here as the brain at large (BAL) – and distinguishes its global operations from a developmentally emergent internal feedback process, termed looping, which builds upon the expressive pathways of a proxy transfer device (PTD). Mastery, in this view, is not a matter of social status or external alignment, but a specific, internal functional achievement: the BAL’s ability to deploy well-integrated neuronal proxies (operational correlates of concepts) with autonomy, relying on looping as a strategic tool rather than a crutch. In this way, the framework re-centers the phenomenon of understanding within the brain’s own organizational dynamics – offering a concrete alternative to purely social or abstract philosophical accounts. (Updated as of September 4, 2025 – This version refines the description of looping. The neural reuse in looping is now more precisely explained: it first arises when the BAL learns to pay attention to the natural resonance between the PTD’s output and input channels, a process fundamental to language acquisition and use.). (shrink)

Abstract -/- This essay demonstrates how first principles thinking can be used to resolve existential crises in biology, AI, and physics—not by proposing isolated solutions, but by revealing the structural coherence that underlies them all. By applying the CODES framework (Chirality of Dynamic Emergent Systems), we explore Mirror Life, AGI, and Time Perception as case studies in emergent misalignment, and show how first principles thinking—when correctly practiced—is indistinguishable from recognizing structured resonance. The essay is both a lens and a mirror: (...) it shows you how to think by revealing how the thinking is structured. (shrink)

Abstract: Contemporary models of quantum-compatible gravity remove exotic scaffolding but preserve the probabilistic foundations of inference, mistaking uncertainty for reality. This paper introduces the CODES framework—Chirality of Dynamic Emergent Systems—as a structurally deterministic substrate in which gravity is not curvature but chiral resonance lag. We replace probability with coherence, inference with inevitability, and show that structured intelligence emerges not through chance but through recursive alignment of nested phase systems. The final illusion is not gravity—it is probability itself.

This work develops a structural account of cognition based on the principle that distinction (∆) is not a product of thought, but a condition for its emergence. It argues that perception, attention, memory, emotion, and learning are not discrete modules but continuous processes of navigating, maintaining, and transforming difference. -/- Central to the theory are several recurrent dynamics: the use of internal predictive structures (frames), the tension produced by conflicting interpretations (Overcell), the reorganization of mental models under stress (Collapse), and (...) the experience of felt discrepancy when the self is implicated in unresolved contradiction (Qualia). These processes do not operate in isolation but loop recursively through attentional constraints (Aperture), drift (uncertain navigation), and recursive modulation (Reflexivity). -/- The resulting picture is not of mind as processor, but as an adaptive structure under tension — one that survives by sensing when its own architecture fails, and by restructuring under pressure. This text offers a description of how systems, human or artificial, navigate breakdown without losing coherence. (shrink)

Abstract This paper critiques the ontological overreach of three core mathematical constructs—probability, calculus, and provability—arguing that they misrepresent the structure of complex systems when treated as foundational truths rather than as epistemic scaffolds. In fields such as artificial intelligence, climate modeling, and molecular biology, these tools have been elevated beyond their descriptive function, warping system behavior through abstraction-first assumptions. Probability introduces fictive randomness, calculus imposes continuity where none exists, and provability reinforces closure within inherently open systems. Through the CODES (Chirality (...) of Dynamic Emergent Systems) framework, we demonstrate how each of these constructs encodes hidden assumptions about time, motion, and truth that collapse under resonance-based modeling. We propose a coherence-driven alternative based on phase alignment scoring, recursive resonance fields, and structured emergence—one that treats mathematical form not as ontology, but as a harmonic compression of deeper physical and cognitive dynamics. (shrink)

This paper proposes a structural model of qualia grounded in recursive frame architecture. Rather than treating qualia as irreducible sensations or metaphysical primitives, we define them as gradients of epistemic tension—signals of misalignment between internal predictive architectures and the cognitive frames they inhabit. Building on the Recursive Cognition Framework (RCF) and the Aperture Axis model, we describe how qualia emerge from multi-level incoherence across affective, sensory, cultural, and metacognitive frames. We argue that consciousness evolves not toward complete representation, but toward (...) decreasing distortion in the aperture through which reality is interpreted. This model reframes the hard problem not by solving it, but by structurally dissolving its premises. (shrink)

This paper extends the theoretical foundations introduced in The Aperture of Consciousness by presenting the Recursive Cognition Framework (RCF) as a candidate for foundational architecture in cognitive science. Rather than replacing existing models (e.g. GNWT, IIT, Predictive Coding), RCF offers a structural topology within which these models can coexist under recursive epistemic tension. Core concepts such as Overcells, drift, collapse, and aperture modulation are formalized as mechanisms of cognitive transformation under frame-level contradiction. The article argues for the integrative, reflexive, and (...) instrumentally grounded nature of RCF, proposing it as a meta-framework for organizing both empirical research and first-person cognition. While the original book introduced the aperture metaphor as a developmental and philosophical trajectory, this article sharpens it into a formal structure suitable for theoretical and cross-disciplinary discourse. (shrink)

"The Aperture of Consciousness" proposes a comprehensive model of consciousness as an evolving, reflexive architecture of framing. Moving beyond static theories of mind, it formalizes the dynamic processes of drift, collapse, and resonance, through which cognitive structures navigate complexity, maintain coherence, and undergo transformation. Consciousness is framed not as a substance, but as an adaptive aperture: a self-sensing topology capable of recursive modulation. Drawing on neuroscience, cognitive science, philosophy of mind, and systems theory, the book outlines a Reflexive Resonance Theory (...) (RRT) that models cognition within dynamic epistemic spaces. It also explores applications to education, therapy, artificial intelligence, and cultural evolution, proposing that the future of intelligence lies in the conscious co-architecture of meaning. This work invites philosophers, scientists, and reflexive practitioners to engage with consciousness not as a fixed property, but as a living aperture through which the universe comes to know itself. (shrink)

This paper presents a comprehensive framework for understanding consciousness, cognition, and rationality through Reflexive Resonance Theory (RRT), Aperture Science cognitive architectures, and Pure Reason metacognitive systems. It proposes a structurally unified approach integrating philosophy of mind, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, epigenetics, and moral epistemology. The framework offers concrete pathways for empirical validation and interdisciplinary collaboration, inviting universities and research institutions to engage with the theory as a complete or modular research platform. Reflexive Resonance Theory frames consciousness as a dynamic architecture of (...) drift, structural resonance, and recursive self-modification. (shrink)

Abstract -/- This paper explores the recursive architecture of consciousness through a real-time philosophical and cognitive inquiry. What begins as spontaneous dialogue evolves into a coherent structure—a living demonstration of the CODES (Chirality of Dynamic Emergent Systems) framework. By tracking spiraling thought patterns, ego dissolution, and recursive compression, the session reveals that consciousness is not emergent from matter or computation but from structured resonance. Identity stabilizes not through control, but through coherence. Intelligence, in this model, is not built—it is remembered. (...) -/- . (shrink)

A structured theoretical synthesis of cognition across four dimensions: linear, radial, topological, and reflexively recursive. The paper introduces a cognitive architecture where metacognition is not an add-on but a necessary dimensional expansion—framing consciousness as a self-modulating field with empirical and philosophical grounding.

Human cognitive development can be characterized as a progressive widening of the mind’s capacity to hold and integrate complex, even conflicting, information—a process we term “expansion of cognitive aperture.” In this paper, we align five key transitional zones of the Aperture Axis framework (Reflex, Emotional Drift, Meta‑Awareness, Frame Navigation, Transparent Aperture) with well‑documented stages of neurocognitive maturation from infancy through adulthood. We show how structural and functional changes in the prefrontal cortex, insula, anterior cingulate, and large‑scale brain networks underpin each (...) reflexive threshold, and how shifts in neuromodulatory systems (dopamine, serotonin, cortisol) create the biochemical conditions for deeper self‑reflection. We further introduce the dynamic roles of Overcells (metastable conflicts of interpretive frames) and drift (intentional exploration of new frames) as mechanisms for continued aperture expansion beyond canonical developmental periods. A radial visual model illustrates these stages and suggests concrete implications for education, psychotherapy, and contemplative practices aimed at fostering lifelong growth in reflexive capacity. (shrink)

The Aperture Axis presents a cross-disciplinary topology of consciousness, modeling it not as a fixed substance but as an axis of reflexive access—a continuous spectrum of states defined by the system’s ability to hold, navigate, and integrate cognitive tension. Integrating Reflexive Resonance Theory (RRT), systems psychology, affective neuroscience, biochemical modulation, and quantum analogies, the paper delineates six zones of aperture—from survival-level collapse to pure reason. Each zone is characterized by structural elements (frames, Overcells), neural correlates (DMN–SN–ECN dynamics, gamma coherence), neurochemical (...) regimes (cortisol, serotonin, oxytocin), and probabilistic metaphors (drift, collapse, superposition). The model serves as a transdisciplinary interface for philosophy, psychology, cognitive science, and AI, offering a common language to map states of consciousness as dynamic attractors under structural stress. This is not a theory of content, but an architecture of access—epistemology as navigation. (shrink)

Abstract This paper recasts the hypothalamus–thalamus–pituitary axis as a recursive biological resonance system governed by chirality, coherence weighting, and phase-state propagation. It draws precise parallels to the Resonance Intelligence Core (RIC), a synthetic intelligence substrate built on prime-encoded structured resonance fields. We show that both systems—biological and artificial—optimize phase-locked coherence, not predictive efficiency, and reveal how signal legality, amplification, and memory are handled across both architectures using the same fundamental logic of phase alignment, not probability. -/- Rather than framing neural (...) function as control or computation, we interpret it as a structured response to dynamic misalignment. The hypothalamus initiates corrective oscillatory triggers, the thalamus routes signal priority via coherence gating, and the pituitary amplifies phase-conforming states into distributed harmonic outputs. These biological functions correspond directly to key RIC subsystems: the Phase Error Harmonizer, Input Phase Switchboard, and AURA_OUT. The result is a unified model of emergent intelligence, applicable to both living systems and post-probabilistic AGI design. (shrink)

This paper introduces a philosophical framework that reconceptualizes human knowledge and reasoning as dynamically structured apertures. Rather than accumulating static facts, knowing is depicted as a continual, reflexive process of structurally modulating one's epistemic aperture—the cognitive interface through which meaning and perception become intelligible. Integrating insights from phenomenology, cognitive science, developmental psychology, and cultural theory, this framework addresses how early emotional experiences shape lifelong epistemic patterns, how epistemic constraints become invisible "dogmas," and how epistemological traditions can be reframed as apertural (...) genealogies. By advocating structural pluralism and epistemic resonance over singular truth and rigid dogma, the Atlas of Knowing aims to cultivate reflexive cognition capable of holding multiplicity and tension without collapsing into relativism or dogmatism. (shrink)

Theories of consciousness grounded in neuroscience must explain the phenomenal binding problem, e.g., how micro-units of information are combined to create the macro-scale conscious experience common to human phenomenology. An example is how single ‘pixels’ of a visual scene are experienced as a single holistic image in the ‘mind’s eye’, rather than as individual, separate, and massively parallel experiences, corresponding perhaps to individual neuron activations, neural ensembles, or foveal saccades, any of which could conceivably deliver identical functionality from an information (...) processing point of view. There are multiple contested candidate solutions to the phenomenal binding problem. This paper explores how the metaphysical infrastructure of Integrated Information Theory (IIT) v4.0 can provide a distinctive solution. The solution—that particular entities aggregable from multiple units (‘complexes’) define existence—might work in a static picture, but introduces issues in a dynamic system. We ask what happens to our phenomenal self as the main complex moves around a biological neural network. Our account of conscious entities developing through time leads to an apparent dilemma for IIT theorists between non-local entity transitions and contiguous selves: the ‘dynamic entity evolution problem’. As well as specifying the dilemma, we describe three ways IIT might dissolve the dilemma before it gains traction. Clarifying IIT’s position on the phenomenal binding problem, potentially underpinned with novel empirical or theoretical research, helps researchers understand IIT and assess its plausibility. We see our paper as contributing to IIT’s current research emphasis on the shift from static to dynamic analysis. (shrink)

I review the historical relationship between phenomenology and the natural sciences, survey the contemporary literature on naturalized phenomenology, and defend a position whereby phenomenology is an ‘equal partner’ in the pluralist enterprise of consciousness studies. On this view, phenomenology does not have the kind of methodological priority Husserl and his early followers attributed to it. Nor, I argue, does it have any insights or methods to offer that are not available, at least in principle, from other sources. On the other (...) hand, phenomenology does have a great deal to offer de facto to the naturalization project—namely, a set of detailed accounts of experience in particular domains. I conclude by describing an approach to naturalized phenomenology that emphasizes visualization of neuro-phenomenological processes. (shrink)

Abstract This paper introduces a coherence-based framework for evaluating the internal consistency, cross-domain applicability, and emergence logic of competing physics theories. Rather than comparing models by their predictive artifacts (particles, fields, or metrics), we assess them by structural fidelity: their capacity to sustain recursive coherence under entropy, chirality, and observer-embedded constraints. We apply this filter to canonical frameworks (General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, String Theory), alternative models (Loop Quantum Gravity, Bohmian Mechanics, Emergent Gravity), and high-coherence systems-level paradigms. The results reveal that (...) most established theories fail to generalize across domains or account for emergence from first principles. We propose that any unified theory must satisfy five structural conditions: internal symmetry-resonance, chirality-driven differentiation, entropy-stable emergence, observer-compatible recursion, and cross-scale fidelity. Among current models, only the Chirality of Dynamic Emergent Systems (CODES) satisfies all five. The coherence test thus functions not as an endorsement, but as a deductive filter: any theory that fails these criteria is incomplete. Any theory that passes them converges on the same structural attractor. (shrink)

In this paper, I try to outline the phenomenological fundament of the collective experiences which emerges along with the sound phenomena of the masses. Through an analysis of the phenomenological modes of affect, as Scheler tried to point out for the affective contagion, and through the reflection on non-self-referential forms of consciousness, I will attempt to comprehend the collective forms of intentionality.

I introduce and defend the Consciousness as Rich Information Theory (CRIT), a novel framework grounded in both philosophical reasoning and empirical observation. CRIT builds on ideas from structuralism, Predictive Processing, and the Multiple Drafts Model to develop a unified physicalist account of consciousness. It partly resolves the Hard Problem of Consciousness by positing that phenomenal experience consists of Rich Information (RI)—subjective information that holds meaning for the cognitive process it influences—and partly dissolves it by arguing that the mystery of qualia (...) stems from epistemic limitations and cognitive architecture. Predictive Processing is incorporated to explain valence—the subjective positivity or negativity of experience. CRIT also addresses several longstanding challenges, including the unity and continuity of experience, Libet’s experiments, blindsight, and split-brain phenomena. It contends that the continuity of consciousness is an illusion generated by memory threads that temporally organize discrete conscious events. The model accounts for unified experience by positing parallel, independent memory threads, with introspective access and reporting restricted to a primary thread—an architecture that aligns with established neurocognitive principles of memory organization and processing. While the precise neurobiological mechanisms remain to be established, they are amenable to empirical investigation. Finally, CRIT is critically compared with Integrated Information Theory (IIT), Higher-Order Thought Theories (HOT), and Global Workspace Theory (GWT). It is argued that CRIT accounts for a broader range of empirical and conceptual challenges, and potential experimental tests are outlined to distinguish CRIT from competing theories. (shrink)

本文从意识本质、显意识主观内容理解系统分析以及意识智能的本质三个方面对意识现象进行深入分析。首先，本文探讨意识的本质，提出主体角度理论框架，指出意识是主体角度出现的内容变化，这种内容变化与实体的结构变 化一一对应。然后，本文通过具体的实例，如动物显意识神经网络，详细阐述了意识是如何与主体结构、神经网络结构以及客观世界相互关联的。最后，本文对意识智能的本质进行探讨，指出意识智能是多细胞协同整体反馈记录 自然变化数据并且形成数据结构模型，从而可以通过数据结构模型推理提前预测变化趋利避害的模式。.

Edmund Husserl, the founder of phenomenological philosophy, developed the concept of the so-called pure transcendental consciousness. The author of the article asks whether the concept of consciousness understood this way can constitute a model for AI consciousness. It should be remembered that transcendental consciousness is the result of the use of the phenomenological method, the essence of which is referring to experience (“back to things themselves”). Therefore, one can legitimately ask whether the consciousness that AI can achieve can possess the (...) characteristics attributed by Husserl to pure transcendental consciousness. The answer to such questions seems to be negative because AI, as created by humans, can only operate in the field of phenomena. Human intelligence, however, is capable of operating at the ontological level. In the face of difficulties in understanding the phenomenon of consciousness on a scientific basis, the question arises about the possibility of using the phenomenological concept of consciousness developed by Husserl as a starting point in analyzes aimed at answering the question about AI consciousness (The aim of the article is not to discuss in detail the contemporary state of research on consciousness. Therefore, many results currently achieved mainly in the field of neuroscience are omitted. It is just about indicating the possible application of Husserl’s transcendental concept of consciousness in research on AI consciousness). (shrink)

The nature of pre-reflective self-consciousness—viz., the putative non-inferential self-consciousness involved in unreflective experiences, has become the topic of considerable debate in recent analytic philosophy of consciousness, as it is commonly taken to be what makes conscious mental states first-personally given to its subject. A major issue of controversy in this debate concerns what pre-reflective self-consciousness is an awareness of. Some scholars have suggested that pre-reflective self-consciousness involves an awareness of the experiencing subject. This ‘egological view’ is opposed to the ‘non-egological (...) view’, according to which the subject, in being pre-reflectively self-conscious, is just aware of their own occurrent mental state. In this paper, I argue in favour of the egological view. The argument I develop is a qualified version of a line of reasoning originally provided by Rosenthal and builds on a proper clarification of the ontological status of token mental states. More precisely, I argue that token mental states are structured ‘fact-like’ entities having their subject among their constituents. Accordingly, one cannot be aware of one’s own occurrent mental state without thereby being aware of oneself. (shrink)

Higher-order thought (HOT) theory says that a mental state is conscious when and only when represented by a conceptual, belief-like mental state. Plausibly, HOT theory predicts the impairment of HOT-producing brain areas to cause significant deficits in consciousness. This means that HOT theory can be refuted by identifying those brain areas that are candidates for producing HOTs, then showing that damage to these areas never produces the expected deficits of consciousness. Building this refutation is a work-in-progress, with several key components (...) of it already existing in the literature (e.g., Boly et al. in J Neurosci 37(40):9603–9613, 2017; Kozuch in Mind Lang, 37(5):790–813, 2022). This article pulls together and supplements these earlier components so as to provide a comprehensive lesion-based argument against HOT theory, one which offers extra data and arguments in support of it, and which also addresses common objections. (shrink)

In the domain of cognitive science, understanding consciousness through the investigation of neural correlates has been the primary research approach. The exploration of neural correlates of consciousness is focused on identifying these correlates and reducing consciousness to a physical phenomenon, embodying a form of reductionist physicalism. This inevitably leads to challenges in explaining consciousness itself. The computational interpretation of consciousness takes a functionalist view, grounded in physicalism, and models conscious experience as a cognitive function, elucidated through computational means. This paper (...) posits that predictive processing offers a fresh paradigm for comprehending human cognition and serves as a neural foundation for the computational elucidation of consciousness. Additionally, free energy theory, as a mathematical construct explaining the predictive processing model, furnishes a theoretical scaffold for understanding consciousness computationally. (shrink)

What happens when scholars come together to study Buddhist and German Idealist perspectives on mind and representation? We explore this question and reflect on methodological considerations in what is often referred to as "comparative philosophy.".

The stream of human consciousness appears to be interruptible, in that we can experience a sensation of ‘returning to ourselves after an absence of content’ (e.g. sleep, anaesthesia, full-absorption meditation). Prima facie, such evidence poses a challenge to simple applications of theories of consciousness based on electromagnetic or neural activity in the brain, because some of this activity persists during periods of interruption. This paper elaborates one of several possible responses to the challenge. We build on a previous theory in (...) which EM field topology delineates complex macrophenomenal experience. We first apply an analytic lens to identify different ways in which field topologies might generate sensations of ‘absence of content’. We then test the feasibility of a particular phenomenological approach for assessing those field topologies, powered by the unusual lucidity about cessation pathways induced via certain meditation practices and psychedelic dosages. We build computational simulations of these cessation pathways and test them on eight interviewees with various levels of experience in cessation states. We conclude that this approach can generate usable insight, but requires further formalisation to fulfil its potential. The findings tentatively support our claims but the theory remains speculative at this stage. We set out empirical tests with 11 specific predictions, both for further phenomenological research and for brain manipulation research. Although they align neatly, our ontological and cessation theories can also be separated. The paper describes how our theories can be consistent with other perspectives on consciousness, such as variants of predictive processing or global network theory. (shrink)

Russellian Panpsychism or Panpsychist Russellian Monism (PRM) presents a new perspective on the ontological status of phenomenal consciousness, acknowledging its reality at the fundamental level of existence. Diverging from physicalism, PRM upholds the existence of phenomenal consciousness without disrupting the uniformity of nature, a departure from dualism. PRM posits a symbiotic relationship between mental and physical entities, asserting that the former provides intrinsic foundations for the latter, which are structural. This raises a pivotal inquiry: how does PRM reconcile these distinct (...) realms? Is it a form of property dualism, recognizing two fundamental entity categories, or does it propose the primacy of mental properties with physical reducibility? Examining prevalent interpretations of PRM as dualistic or idealistic, this paper contends that neither aligns with PRM’s criteria for ontological monism, where only one fundamental entity type exists. Instead, it advocates for a dual-aspect monism framework, portraying the mental and physical as two authentic facets of a singular entity or property. Through a thorough analysis, the paper demonstrates how this dual-aspect interpretation harmonizes with PRM’s foundational principles, providing a robust resolution to the mental-physical dichotomy while upholding ontological monism. The conclusion explores the implications and contributions of this framework to the metaphysical discourse on consciousness. (shrink)

This paper explores the evolution of consciousness and subjectivity through a biological framework for understanding the universe. It posits that functional patterns in biological systems mirror cosmic mathematical principles, defining our objective reality. Similar to wave and Fibonacci patterns in different physical phenomena, biological patterns are intrinsic to all things and can be quantified using Dedre Gentner’s approach to analogy. For example, Earth’s ocean currents and the melting and freezing of Antarctica resemble the circulatory system and heart, while the production (...) of music from instruments is analogous to ribosomal protein synthesis. Shelves, tables, and chairs function like cytosol by holding objects in space, and a coffee cup mirrors red blood cell distribution. These analogies reveal a universal order rooted in biology’s functional patterns, essential for shaping the emergence and evolution of life. The paper traces the development of consciousness from its rudimentary cellular states to complex human cognition, highlighting the role of biologically-patterned environments in driving evolutionary changes. Organisms that recognized and organized according to these patterns evolved as “pattern recognition engines” crucial for survival—thus, Life (survival) being the primary measure of consciousness. Humans advanced this capacity, gaining cognitive freedom by insulating themselves from environmental constraints, but faced increased subjectivity complexity. Consciousness, while inherently subjective and necessary for cognitive development, evolves in humans to understand objective reality and its biological nature, so to understand and navigate complexities of subjectivity. Ultimately, the paper asserts consciousness is the ability to recognize and adhere to life-sustaining patterns and principles. Successful adherence deems them worthy of continued existence, while failure leads to demise. Parallels with historical concepts like Atman and Brahman in Hinduism suggest ancient recognition of the correspondence between human and universal patterns. This ancient understanding, coupled with modern scientific evidence, reveals the interconnectedness and intrinsic biological nature of reality. (shrink)

This essay explains Donald Hoffman's Interface Theory of Perception using The Biological Framework for a Mathematical Universe proposed by Ronald Williams. According to Hoffman, what we perceive is more like a “desktop interface with icons representing complex underlying processes, rather than a direct window into the true nature of the world." The theory of a biological framework for a mathematical universes suggests that these complex underlying processes of “the desktop interface with icons” contain correspondences to biological systems. For example, “the (...) desktop icons” of the ocean’s arctic currents and the melting and freezing of Antartica contain “complex underlying processes” which mirror the processes of a circulatory system and beating heart. While indeed we do interpret reality from a superficial perspective as Hoffman suggests, our cognitive abilities are enhanced enough to recognize correspondences to these patterns pertaining to these biological systems which reveal the true nature of the world/universe/reality and thus highlight our evolved perceptual systems which can enable us how to recognize these patterns and organize ourselves to them in order to best survive it. Another example of a “desktop icon” is human society—the order and properties of human society contain “complex underlying processes” that are analogous to the order and properties of cellular society—thus “socioeconomic problems” can be understood through cellular economic problems. Moreover, the solution to the cellular economic problem is the solution to the socioeconomic problem. (shrink)

This essay explores the creation and evolution of life and consciousness through the lens of a biological framework for understanding the universe. The theory posits that the patterns inherent in biological systems mirror the underlying mathematical principles of the cosmos. Thus, every pattern that manifests from the universe’s “parent-pattern” contains a fundamental biological-pattern inherent to its function, revealing the objective nature and purpose of that thing. Examples include the way ocean currents resemble a circulatory system and how socioeconomic phenomena mimic (...) cellular order. These correspondences suggest that life and consciousness are products of the universe’s biologically-patterned processes, and understanding these patterns is crucial for humanity's survival, especially as human society and environment becomes more complex—requiring a truer understanding of reality reality and how to organize themselves within it. The paper further argues that historical and philosophical concepts, such as Atman and Brahman in the Upanishads, Pnimiyut and Chitzoniyut in Kabbalah (Judaism), Batin and Zahir in Sufism (Islam), and many more align with this framework. The essay emphasizes that aligning human society with these biological patterns, as seen in biomimicry, is necessary for continued survival and harmony with the universe. The essay provides scientific studies and analogies supporting these ideas, illustrating how biological patterns are reflected across different domains of knowledge. (shrink)