Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
September 23, 2026
Arthur Stewart
preprint
The six postulates of Integrated Information Theory 4.0 (IIT) (Albantakis et al., 2023) are jointly unsatisfiable, and not because the theory ranks them: the exclusion postulate contradicts itself in successive clauses, integration forbids what composition requires, and the one conflict the theory does adjudicate it adjudicates against itself, excluding from the Φ-structure the determinations...
Metaphilosophy
September 23, 2026
Killian McGrath
Abstract The problem of consciousness remains the most intractable question in the philosophy of mind. Scientific approaches to consciousness, in their effort to provide a systematic account, impose determinate structures. This methodological necessity encounters a dilemma: it seeks to define what is never self‐identical. This paper considers Conscious Agent Theory (CAT) within this broader...
Journal of Affective Disorders
September 23, 2026
Erin Curran, Kristina T. Kumpf, Mina Ansari et al.
Ketamine/esketamine produce rapid antidepressant effects, with growing interest in how acute subjective experiences and the surrounding set and setting shape clinical outcomes. Little is known about how audiovisual adjustments during ketamine/esketamine treatment influence comfort, tolerability, or patient experience, despite their common use in clinical practice. Virtual reality (VR) is one...
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
September 23, 2026
Mohammed Jawad Kadhim Jawad Al-Barazanchi
preprint
This preprint introduces “Unity of Appearance and Plurality of Grounding,” a metaphysical-phenomenological framework for examining the relations among truth, consciousness, subjectivity, cognition, and phenomenal presence. The paper distinguishes truth from appearance and cognition, defines grounding as the principle of subject individuation, and proposes the unity of the ground of appearance...
Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences
September 22, 2026
Daniel Reid Smyth
Abstract Knowing when one feels fatigued, and not just tired or expending effort, matters. When fatigue is correctly detected, physician-patient misunderstandings can be avoided (Long et al., 2022), occupational safety concerns can be addressed (Van der Linden, 2011), and injury as well as loss of well-being can be reduced in athletic contexts (Saw et al., 2016). Although existing empirical...
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
September 22, 2026
Javid Tajrishi
preprint
This preprint presents the Javid Neuro-Phenomenological Protocol (J-NPP), a five-stage, phenomenon-based hypnotherapeutic framework developed for pain management. The framework is organized around the progression from experiential phenomena and stabilization to therapeutic transformation, transfer, repetition, conditioning, and generalization. It emphasizes the use of subjective experience as a...
Synthese
September 22, 2026
Nicolas Crozatier
Abstract The extended mind thesis (EXT) has profoundly reshaped debates about the nature and boundaries of cognition. Yet its ethical and political implications remain underexplored. While much of the literature emphasizes the therapeutic and enhancement promises of cognitive technologies, less attention has been paid to the structural risks associated with technological dependence, including...
Animal Sentience
September 22, 2026
Claudia Passos-Ferreira
Birch proposes that human fetuses be recognized as sentience candidates from 12 weeks, on the grounds that midbrain-centered theories fall within the zone of reasonable disagreement among theories of consciousness. I raise a methodological and a policy problem for his view. Methodologically, whether the midbrain-centered view belongs within the zone is disputed, so there is no consensus about...
BMJ Open
September 22, 2026
Anna Kristina Eigenbrodt, Poul P Laigaard, Melika Hassani et al.
Recovery of consciousness after brain injury remains a major challenge in the intensive care unit (ICU), and pharmacological treatments that directly promote awakening from coma and other disorders of consciousness (DoC) are lacking. We hypothesise that simultaneously targeting the two core components of consciousness by pharmacological means-arousal with apomorphine and awareness with...
Frontiers in Psychology
September 22, 2026
Samhitha Tirumalasetti
Inconclusive evidence for leading third-person theories of consciousness has renewed scientific interest in its first-person nature. Self-inquiry, a first-person method from Advaita Vedanta, can be operationalized to meet this need, though it has not received prior empirical study, likely owing to Advaita’s idealism. By bracketing Advaita’s metaphysical commitments and mapping its...