Towards a structural turn in consciousness science
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Published on: March 8, 2019
1Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, 80539 München, Germany; Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany; Institute for Psychology, University of Bamberg, Markusplatz 3, 96047 Bamberg, Germany; Association for Mathematical Consciousness Science, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, 80539 München, Germany.
Abstract:
Recent activities in virtually all fields engaged in consciousness studies indicate early signs of a structural turn, where verbal descriptions or simple formalisations of conscious experiences are replaced by structural tools, most notably mathematical spaces. My goal here is to offer three comments that, in my opinion, are essential to avoid misunderstandings in these developments early on. These comments concern metaphysical premises of structural approaches, the viability of structure-preserving mappings, and the question of what a structure of conscious experience is in the first place. I will also explain what, in my opinion, are the great promises of structural methodologies and how they might impact consciousness science at large.
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