What is a Mathematical Structure of Conscious Experience?
Johannes Kleiner, Tim A. Ludwig
arXiv Preprint Archive January 26, 2023 preprint
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Q-bio.nc |
| Key points | Proposes a definition for a 'mathematical structure of conscious experience' to link abstract mathematics with concrete conscious experience and unify different approaches in consciousness science. |
Abstract
In consciousness science, several promising approaches have been developed for how to represent conscious experience in terms of mathematical spaces and structures. What is missing, however, is an explicit definition of what a 'mathematical structure of conscious experience' is. Here, we propose such a definition. This definition provides a link between the abstract formal entities of mathematics and the concreta of conscious experience; it complements recent approaches that study quality spaces, qualia spaces or phenomenal spaces; it provides a general method to identify and investigate structures of conscious experience; and it may serve as a framework to unify the various approaches from different fields. We hope that ultimately this work provides a basis for developing a common formal language to study consciousness.