The Consciousness Atlas is an interactive web app that visualizes more
than 450 theories of consciousness. It is based on Robert Lawrence
Kuhn's 2024 paper,
"A Landscape of Consciousness". The Atlas maps theories that address phenomenal consciousness - the
subjective feel of experience, such as the redness of red.
What the Atlas is
The Atlas is a visual reference built on Kuhn's taxonomy. It presents
the full set of theories at once so you can explore the field visually
and open any theory to read its entry, like an encyclopedia with
structured entries. Each theory entry shows a concise identity line,
conceptual ground, suggested mechanism, empirical notes, implications,
and sources.
Why this exists
Consciousness is studied across disciplines - neuroscience,
philosophy, and sometimes spiritual or anomalous-state research.
Kuhn's paper collects and organizes hundreds of theories along a
spectrum from most physical to least physical. The Atlas puts that
organization into a visual form so readers, students, and researchers
can quickly see how different positions relate and where each theory
sits on the spectrum.
How it works
Theories are grouped into ten main categories, arranged by their
stance on the physical-to-nonphysical spectrum. Examples of categories
include Materialism, Non-Reductive Physicalism, Functionalism,
Quantum-based theories, Panpsychism, Monism, Dualism, Idealism,
Anomalous States, and Challenge Theories. The app shows the whole map
at once. Click any theory to read its structured entry, which includes
references to canonical sources and named thinkers.
Who it is for
- Students learning philosophy of mind and cognitive science
-
Researchers and lecturers looking for an at-a-glance comparative
resource
-
Journalists and writers who need a quick reference to the range of
positions
-
Curious readers who want a clear view of what people mean when they
talk about consciousness
What the Atlas does not do
The Atlas does not endorse or rank theories. It is a visualization and
reference based on Kuhn's taxonomy - collect and present, not judge.
It does not attempt to settle the hard problem of consciousness. It is
a tool for exploration and comparison.
A note from Kuhn
Kuhn explicitly states the project's purpose: "collect and categorize,
not assess and adjudicate." The Consciousness Atlas follows that
approach. The data and structure are derived from Kuhn's paper;
feedback and suggested corrections are welcome, but the app is a
visualization layer on top of Kuhn's work.
Kuhn was not involved in the design or content of the Consciousness
Atlas, other than his original paper, 'A Landscape of Consciousness,'
which is the sole source.
FAQ
What is phenomenal consciousness?
Phenomenal consciousness refers to subjective experience - the
qualitative feel of being aware, like the taste of coffee or the
redness of red.
How many theories does the Atlas include?
The Atlas visualizes over 220 individual theories, grouped into ten
broad categories.
Does the Atlas show which theory is true?
No. The Atlas presents theories neutrally. It is a map, not an
argument for any single position.
Is the Atlas academic?
The Atlas is based on an academic source - Robert Kuhn's 2024 paper,
"A Landscape of Consciousness" - and links to canonical sources
where available.
Summary
The Consciousness Atlas is a straightforward visualization tool: it
presents Kuhn's taxonomy as a single, explorable map and lets users
open individual theory entries to read structured, referenced
summaries. It is designed to make this complex field easier to survey
and to serve as a practical reference.
Idealism
Yetter-Chappell’s Non-Theistic Idealism
Reality as a Godless Unity of Experience
Helen Yetter-Chappell develops a quasi-Berkeleyan realist idealism without God: reality is a vast unity of conscious experience that holds together experiences of every object from every perspective, keeping the world stable when no one is looking. She combines this with a defense of epiphenomenalist dualism, on which individual experiences are causally inert yet are the very stuff of reality.
Helen Yetter-Chappell
What consciousness is
Consciousness is the fundamental constituent of reality. The world is one unified experience that includes experiences as of every object from every perspective, woven, in Yetter-Chappell's image, out of experiential threads.
Mind and body
Within her dualist framework, brain processes give rise to experiences that do not act back on the physical world, and behavior is fully explained physically. In her idealism, the physical world itself is constituted by the unified experience, governed by laws like those of materialist metaphysics.
Mechanism
Berkeley's God is stripped to the one feature needed for a stable world: a unified experience that encompasses all aspects of every object, such as the cake in a closed fridge.
Core claims
- Something outside us must sustain objects when unperceived and explain the regularity of perception, but it need not be a god or even an agent.
- Yetter-Chappell argues that the ‘paradox of phenomenal judgment’ for epiphenomenalism arises only when dualism is combined with a physicalist view of the self.
- Direct acquaintance with reality is intelligible only if reality is fundamentally phenomenal, against naïve realists.
- Individual experiences can be causally inert while consciousness as a whole is the substance of reality.
Criticisms
Combining epiphenomenalist dualism, where brains give rise to experiences, with an idealism where experience is the whole of reality looks contradictory at first. Epiphenomenalism also faces the paradox of phenomenal judgment: how we can know experiences that cause nothing.
Implications
- Meaning and purpose: Humanistic only
- The unity of experience that grounds reality has no desires, intentions or agency, so it supplies no cosmic purpose.
Related theories
Sources
- The View From Everywhere: Realist Idealism Without God, Helen Yetter-Chappell
- Yetter-Chappell’s Non-Theistic Idealism, Helen Yetter-Chappell (2017)
Explore all theories on the Consciousness Atlas
