The scientific study of consciousness encompasses more than 340 distinct theoretical proposals with no agreed framework for evaluating them against common standards. This paper proposes the Consciousness Theory Evaluation Protocol (CTEP) v1.0, a theory-neutral instrument applicable to any theory of consciousness regardless of its ontological commitments. CTEP organises evaluation around seven...
Author's Note (May 2026) This is a revised version of a paper first deposited in March 2026. The revision makes three changes. First, the abstract has been rewritten to more accurately reflect the paper's scope: the core argument is a pressure argument against generator theories of consciousness at the evolutionary scale, and the paper does not advance a specific positive theory as its...