The Qualia Structure Paradigm: towards a construction of a Qualia Periodic Table for the dissolution of the Hard Problem of Consciousness
PsyArXiv April 12, 2025 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/492hu_v2 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Qualitative |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Proposes that qualia can be characterized relationally and structurally, inspired by the Yoneda lemma of category theory, rather than through verbal descriptions or simple behavioral responses. Argues this "Qualia Structure" paradigm could yield an organizing principle for qualia and their physical substrates, and that valid theories of consciousness should link the two domains in a structure-preserving manner, which the author contends would dissolve the Hard Problem of consciousness in its current form. |
Abstract
The nature of the relationships between qualitative aspects of consciousness, or qualia, and their physical substrates remains unclear. The problem of qualia is one of the biggest challenges among the enigmas of consciousness. One difficulty in qualia research is characterization of qualia. Verbal descriptions and simple behavioral responses are unable to capture the richness of qualia, the dilemma faced by the traditional NCC paradigm. Comparing a quale with another quale, however, is not difficult. Such relational characterization of qualia, but now in a structural context, underlies the core of the Qualia Structure paradigm. This new paradigm was inspired by category theory, in particular, the Yoneda lemma, which states that an object in a category is characterized by its relationships to all objects in that category. Inspired by the lemma, the Qualia Structure paradigm proposes a pathway to characterize and organize the structural properties of different qualia one by one. As a result, it aspires to reach an organizing principle, akin to a Mendeleevian periodic table, for the domains of qualia and their physical substrates. Under this framework, any valid theories of consciousness should link the two domains in a structure-preserving manner. Successful refinement of such theories will lead to “natural” relationships among these different theories. This level of specification and understanding of relations between qualia and the physical would dissolve the Hard Problem of consciousness in its current form.
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