Reasoning about conscious experience with axiomatic and graphical mathematics.
Camilo Miguel Signorelli, Quanlong Wang, Bob Coecke
Consciousness and Cognition October 1, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2021.103168 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Compositionality Conscious agents Conscious experience Graphical calculi Mathematical consciousness science Monoidal categories Unity of consciousness |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key points | Proposes that an axiomatic mathematical framework using process theories can recover features of conscious experience such as phenomenal unity and subjective privacy. |
Abstract
We cast aspects of consciousness in axiomatic mathematical terms, using the graphical calculus of general process theories (a.k.a symmetric monoidal categories and Frobenius algebras therein). This calculus exploits the ontological neutrality of process theories. A toy example using the axiomatic calculus is given to show the power of this approach, recovering other aspects of conscious experience, such as external and internal subjective distinction, privacy or unreadability of personal subjective experience, and phenomenal unity, one of the main issues for scientific studies of consciousness. In fact, these features naturally arise from the compositional nature of axiomatic calculus.
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Citations in the library
Cited by 10
- Explanatory profiles of models of consciousness - towards a systematic classification. Neuroscience of Consciousness August 27, 2021
- A Compositional Model of Consciousness Based on Consciousness-Only. Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) March 5, 2021
- We need to explain subjective experience, but its explanation may not be mechanistic Neuroscience of Consciousness August 29, 2022
- Category theory in consciousness science: going beyond the correlational project Synthese August 1, 2024
- Towards a structural turn in consciousness science. Consciousness and Cognition February 28, 2024
and 5 more in the library
Cites 16
- Two neural correlates of consciousness Trends in Cognitive Sciences January 13, 2005
- Distilling the neural correlates of consciousness Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews December 17, 2011
- Moments in Time Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience 2011
- Minimal phenomenal experience Philosophy and the Mind Sciences March 24, 2020
- Explanatory profiles of models of consciousness - towards a systematic classification. Neuroscience of Consciousness August 27, 2021
and 11 more in the library