Journal of Consciousness Studies
February 1, 2026
Robert Prentner
The interface theory of perception maintains that sensory systems evolved to present agents with an 'adaptive desktop' rather than a veridical picture of the world. Physical reality is an evolutionary construct. By contrast, consciousness and agency are fundamental, irreducible elements not emergent from physics. Building on this framework, the quantum interface theory (QIT) is introduced....
Artificial General Intelligence
2026
Robert Prentner
Whether artificial intelligence (AI) systems can possess consciousness is a contentious question because of the inherent challenges of defining and operationalizing subjective experience. This paper proposes a framework to reframe the question of artificial consciousness into empirically tractable tests. We introduce three evaluative criteria – S (subjective-linguistic), L (latent-emergent),...
Frontiers in Psychology
2024
Robert Prentner, Donald D Hoffman
5 citations
The current stage of consciousness science has reached an impasse. We blame the physicalist worldview for this and propose a new perspective to make progress on the problems of consciousness. Our perspective is rooted in the theory of conscious agents. We thereby stress the fundamentality of consciousness outside of spacetime, the importance of agency, and the mathematical character of the...
Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)
March 3, 2023
Larissa Albantakis, Robert Prentner, Ian T. Durham
Originally conceived as a theory of consciousness, integrated information theory (IIT) provides a theoretical framework intended to characterize the compositional causal information that a system, in its current state, specifies about itself. However, it remains to be determined whether IIT as a theory of consciousness is compatible with quantum mechanics as a theory of microphysics. Here, we...
Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)
January 9, 2023
Donald D Hoffman, Chetan Prakash, Robert Prentner
What are conscious experiences? Can they combine to form new experiences? What are conscious subjects? Can they combine to form new subjects? Most attempts to answer these questions assume that spacetime, and some of its particles, are fundamental. However, physicists tell us that spacetime cannot be fundamental. Spacetime, they say, is doomed. We heed the physicists, and drop the assumption...
arXiv Preprint Archive
January 4, 2023
Larissa Albantakis, Robert Prentner, Ian T. Durham
Originally conceived as a theory of consciousness, integrated information theory (IIT) provides a theoretical framework intended to characterize the compositional causal information that a system, in its current state, specifies about itself. However, it remains to be determined whether IIT as a theory of consciousness is compatible with quantum mechanics as a theory of microphysics. Here, we...
Neuroscience of Consciousness
August 29, 2022
Camilo Miguel Signorelli, Ignacio Cea, Robert Prentner
8 citations
Models of consciousness need to explain both the objective correlates of conscious experience as well as its subjective structure. However, such an explanation would not need to entail a reduction exclusively in terms of physical or neural systems. A model that intends to avoid such reduction is integrated information theory (IIT). In this article, we discuss the explanatory rationale of IIT,...
Neurosci Conscious
August 27, 2021
Camilo Miguel Signorelli, Joanna Szczotka, Robert Prentner
93 citations
Models of consciousness aim to inspire new experimental protocols and aid interpretation of empirical evidence to reveal the structure of conscious experience. Nevertheless, no current model is univocally accepted on either theoretical or empirical grounds. Moreover, a straightforward comparison is difficult for conceptual reasons. In particular, we argue that different models explicitly or...
arXiv Preprint Archive
February 12, 2021
Shanna Dobson, Robert Prentner
In this paper, we propose a mathematical model of subjective experience in terms of classes of hierarchical geometries of representations ("n-awareness"). We first outline a general framework by recalling concepts from higher category theory, homotopy theory, and the theory of (infinity, 1)-topoi. We then state three conjectures that enrich this framework. We first propose that the (infinity,...
Philosophies
November 8, 2018
Robert Prentner
A new philosophy of nature is urgently needed. The received ontological view, physicalism, is unable to account for experiential phenomena and in particular for consciousness in all its varieties. We shall outline the concept of experiencing which should figure as a new conceptual primitive in natural philosophy. Experiencing refers to a process which comprises the interaction of an agent with...
Philosophies
December 6, 2017
Robert Prentner
This perspective examines the role of chemistry and molecular biology for a science of consciousness. Opposed to the consensus view, we argue that the molecular organization of biological systems is key to arrive at a thorough understanding of the dynamics correlated to the phenomenology of consciousness in complex organisms. This is indicated by the fact that the molecular sciences either...