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 › Computational
Malinkovic and Aru’s Biological Computationalism
Consciousness as Substrate-Bound, Multiscale Biological Computation
Milinkovic and Aru argue that consciousness depends on a kind of computation only biological substrates perform, in which the physical, energetic, and chemical properties of the tissue are part of the computation itself. Under tight metabolic limits, the brain processes information across scales that cannot be separated, and it mixes discrete spikes with continuous processes such as graded potentials and electric fields. Digital systems separate algorithm from hardware, so on this view they lack what consciousness requires.
Borjan Milinkovic, Jaan Aru
What consciousness is
Consciousness depends on biological computation in which the substrate is the algorithm. Membrane potentials, ion flows, chemical diffusion, and fields do the computing, with no layer separating software from hardware.
Mind and body
Conscious processing is tied to the concrete physical dynamics of living tissue. The authors place their view against computational functionalism, which makes the medium irrelevant, and give biological naturalism a computational account.
Mechanism
Scale inseparability plus hybrid computation. Computations at one scale cannot be separated from those at others, and continuous-valued ‘continuous arithmetic’ runs alongside discrete spiking.
Core claims
- Metabolic constraints are constitutive forces that shape how neural systems process, transmit, and integrate information across scales.
- Biological systems compute heterarchically, with continuous co-determination between scales, unlike the one-way abstraction layers of digital machines.
- Neural tissue combines discrete spikes with continuous processes such as graded potentials and ephaptic field effects.
- Von Neumann machines, including large language models, separate memory, processing, and control and decouple information from substrate, so they lack the causal structure consciousness needs.
Criticisms
The view directly challenges computational functionalism, whose defenders hold that the right pattern of information processing suffices regardless of medium.
Implications
- AI consciousness: Conditional
- Current digital AI, including large language models, cannot be conscious. Milinkovic and Aru allow that biomimetic substrates with hybrid, multiscale, energy-bound dynamics might be.
- Survival beyond death: No
- Since consciousness depends on the energy-bound dynamics of living tissue, it follows from the view that it ends when those dynamics stop.
- Virtual immortality: No
- A digital simulation models the brain’s scales as separate mathematical objects and cannot replicate the substrate-bound computation the authors consider necessary.
Related theories
Sources
- Biological Computationalism (Landscape of Consciousness entry), Borjan Milinkovic and Jaan Aru (2025)
Explore all theories on the Consciousness Atlas
