Why the World Needs a Subject: Solving the Hard Problem of Qualia through the Self-Reflection of the Absolute and Reentry
Yuri N. Berdinsky, Pauline S. Ordina
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) August 11, 2026 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21891928 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Argues that subjectivity is ontologically primary, not emergent, and that reentry loops inherit subjectivity, explaining the privacy of qualia via topological non-separability. |
Abstract
The hard problem of consciousness asks why physical processing is accompanied by subjective experience. Since every observable act admits an exhaustive physical description, and a being with no inner life would behave identically, the subject seems causally superfluous. This paper argues the answer is ontological: subjectivity is not emergent but primary, as an attribute of a self-reflective Absolute. The physiological correlate of consciousness — reentry (Ivanitsky/Edelman) — is isomorphic to K.V. Titov’s subject-centered model. A reentry loop inherits subjectivity, and the privacy of qualia is explained by the topological non-separability of the loop’s interior side. An appendix formalizes the core claims using category theory and topology; two proofs are verified in Lean 4.