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.
Panpsychism
Kadić's Monadic Panpsychism
Human Experience as Relationally Constituted Microsubjects
Nino Kadić accepts that micro-subjects cannot combine into a macro-subject, so he builds a panpsychism that never needs them to. Each fundamental microsubject has an intrinsic bare point of view, and its rich experiential content is fixed by its relations to other microsubjects in the same causal structure, so one microsubject (or, on one version, every one) can have a full human experience. Inspired by Leibniz's monads, the view avoids both subject-combination and emergence.
Nino Kadić
What consciousness is
Consciousness is a bare perspective intrinsic to every fundamental simple; the qualitative richness of a human experience belongs to a microsubject through its relations to other microsubjects.
Mind and body
Phenomenal structure mirrors causal structure: the causal organization of the brain determines, relationally, the phenomenal character of the microsubject or microsubjects within it.
Mechanism
Microphenomenal structuralism: all microsubjects in a relevant causal structure relationally determine the phenomenal character of one microsubject, or of all of them, so that it amounts to a full human experience.
Core claims
- The subject combination problem is probably insurmountable, and Coleman argues that merging subjects is incoherent, so panpsychism should avoid combination entirely.
- Static monadic panpsychism fails because the brain would lose its experience if its one permanently dominant microsubject were damaged.
- Dynamic monadic panpsychism lets any microsubject take the dominant role, which handles that objection but requires a principle for individuating the dominant one.
- Global monadic panpsychism makes every microsubject in the structure have the full human experience, which Kadić admits is the hardest version to defend.
Criticisms
Static and dynamic versions must explain how the dominant microsubject relates to the others and how it is individuated. Siddharth and Bhojraj, who defend a similar Leibnizian panpsychism, deny that a single dominant microsubject can be sharply fixed and reject the global version.
Implications
- AI consciousness: Possible
- If phenomenal structure mirrors causal structure, it follows that a suitably organized artificial system could give its microsubjects rich experience, though Kadić's account here does not address AI.
- Survival beyond death: Unlikely
- The microsubjects persist, but the human experience they host is constituted by their relations within the brain's causal structure, so it follows from the view that this experience ends when that structure does.
Related theories
Sources
- Kadić's Monadic Panpsychism (Landscape of Consciousness), Nino Kadić (2024)
- PhD dissertation, King's College London, Nino Kadić (2022)
- Vagueness and the Evolution of Consciousness, Michael Tye (2021)
Explore all theories on the Consciousness Atlas
