The Quest for a Unifying Definition and Taxonomy of Consciousness: Narrowing the Obstacles to Mutual Understanding
Qeios February 26, 2026 Jonathan David Nash
The primary intent of this paper is to identify and elucidate various consequential factors that have impeded the attainment of a consensual definition and taxonomy of consciousness. As such, the author explores several etymological, semantic, and sociolinguistic issues, including the troubling conflation of ‘conscious’ and ‘consciousness,’ the perpetual promulgation of competing descriptions...