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.
Materialism › Eliminative
Feyerabend's Revisable, Disposable Mind
Mental Concepts as a Revisable, Replaceable Theory
Paul Feyerabend argued that our everyday concepts of mind (pain, sensation, thought, feeling) form a theory that could be false, so a mature neuroscience might replace them outright instead of reducing them. Experience may be real, but introspective certainty does not reveal its ultimate nature; his early papers helped found eliminative materialism, while his later pluralism refused to give scientific language sole authority over experience.
Paul Feyerabend
What consciousness is
Feyerabend does not say what consciousness is. He identifies our conception of it as an inherited, low-level theory whose categories, including ‘the mental’ itself, could be revised or discarded.
Mind and body
In ‘Materialism and the Mind-Body Problem’ Feyerabend defends a deliberately crude materialism to show that even it survives the standard objections. The mental-physical divide may reflect inherited theory rather than a real boundary, and a future neuroscience might replace mentalistic descriptions instead of matching them to brain states.
Mechanism
Replacement rather than reduction. Mental categories might vanish the way phlogiston did, superseded by a theory that reorganizes the whole domain.
Core claims
- Common-sense psychology carries non-physical commitments, so a thorough materialism would replace mentalistic descriptions rather than translate them.
- Because meaning depends on theory, the objection that materialism cannot capture what ‘pain’ means loses force, since the materialist need not keep the term.
- In ‘Science Without Experience’ Feyerabend argued that experience is logically dispensable in building, understanding, and testing empirical theory.
- In a later postscript he noted that a materialist language might gain scientific information while losing ties to emotion, relationships, and art, so choosing it involves human values.
Criticisms
Whether Feyerabend was an eliminativist at all is disputed. Jamie Shaw argues he only showed that eliminative materialism was permissible, never that science would vindicate it. His later pluralism also sits awkwardly with his early readiness to let science correct ordinary language.
Implications
- Meaning and purpose: Humanistic only
- Feyerabend’s later pluralism treats the choice of how to describe mental life as a matter of human and moral values, including art and relationships, not cosmic fact.
Related theories
Sources
- An Attempt at a Realistic Interpretation of Experience, Paul Feyerabend (1958)
- Explanation, Reduction, and Empiricism, Paul Feyerabend (1962)
- Materialism and the Mind-Body Problem, Paul Feyerabend (1963)
- Comment: Mental Events and the Brain, Paul Feyerabend (1963)
- Science Without Experience, Paul Feyerabend (1969)
- Realism, Rationalism and Scientific Method: Philosophical Papers, Volume 1, Paul Feyerabend (1981)
- Eliminative Materialism and the Propositional Attitudes, Paul Churchland (1981)
- Feyerabend Never Was an Eliminative Materialist, Jamie Shaw (2021)
Explore all theories on the Consciousness Atlas
