The Problem of Perspectival Ownership: A Philosophical Framework for Conscious Individuality

Abstract

The Problem of Perspectival Ownership: A Philosophical Framework for Conscious Individuality Consciousness research has focused predominantly on the "Hard Problem" of subjective experience, yet a more foundational issue persists: the Problem of Perspectival Ownership. Why does a given stream of experience belong to this particular first-person perspective (“mine”) and not another? This paper proposes a conceptual framework that distinguishes perspectival ownership—the irreducible “for-me-ness” of experience (termed the Root)—from its physical-historical grounding (the unique Worldline Realization). Through the Differential Stripping Method, a thought experiment that isolates ownership from all shareable psychological and physical attributes, we argue that the core of conscious individuality resides in this irreducible Root. We further demonstrate that the Root’s irreducibility entails its anchorage in a non-replicable, continuous physical-historical process—the Worldline Realization. This framework clarifies classic puzzles such as the copy paradox and reframes debates on personal identity, mind uploading, and artificial consciousness. It also suggests an empirical research program via the speculative concept of a “Root Signature”—a stable, individual-specific neural dynamical pattern that may correlate with perspectival continuity. Ultimately, this work calls for an “individuality turn” in consciousness science, shifting the central question from “Is it conscious?” to “Which conscious individual is it?”