Emergent Predictive Experience Theory (EPET): A Constitutive, Emergentist-Predictive Account of Qualia

Abstract

This paper presents a constitutive, emergentist-predictive account of qualiadesigned to address the ‘hard problem’ of consciousness within a naturalistic,physicalist framework. It argues that by integrating two leading paradigmsfrom cognitive science—Predictive Processing (PP) and Global Workspace Theory(GWT)—and grounding this synthesis in a consistent non-reductive (weak)emergentism, we can provide a coherent explanation for the phenomenalcharacter of experience. The core thesis posits that qualia are not mysteriousbyproducts or illusions, but are constituted by, or identical to, specificintrinsic properties of the integrated, embodied predictive modeling processitself. This framework aims to dissolve the explanatory gap by reframing thequestion from “generation” to “realization,” thereby avoiding the metaphysicalextremes of both panpsychism and strong illusionism while affirming the realityof subjective experience.