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 › Embodied
Lakoff and Johnson’s Embodied Realism and Embodied Mind
The Mind Is the Body
George Lakoff and Mark Johnson argue that the mind is inherently embodied: we think with a brain that evolved to run a body, so every concept, even color, is shaped by our sensorimotor makeup rather than read off a mind-independent world. Conscious experience is real and brain-caused, structured by an unconscious system of metaphors, frames and image schemas wired into neural circuits, though Lakoff concedes that qualia and sheer awareness may stay beyond scientific reach.
George Lakoff, Mark Johnson
What consciousness is
Consciousness is the embodied organism’s way of presenting the world, a brain-caused phenomenon whose contents and categories come from bodily and neural structure, not from disembodied reason.
Mind and body
Lakoff states that ‘the mind is the body’: the properties of inference, metaphor, frames and categories follow from the properties of the brain. Some aspects, namely qualia and awareness, are not yet understood, but they are still caused by the body.
Mechanism
Conceptual metaphor as neural wiring: when two experiences are repeatedly co-activated, such as being held and feeling warm, spreading activation strengthens synapses into a circuit that is the metaphor.
Core claims
- Color categories arise from the interaction of the world with cone cells and neural circuitry, not from properties of objects alone.
- Primary metaphors form through repeated co-activation of experiences and become physical neural connections.
- Most concepts and inferences are unconscious, supplied by frames and image schemas never explicitly stated.
- Imagining something uses the same brain areas as seeing it, as do dreaming and remembering.
Criticisms
The view claims to solve the mind–body problem while admitting that qualia and awareness cannot currently be modeled, which leaves the core of phenomenal consciousness unexplained.
Implications
- AI consciousness: Unlikely
- Since concepts and experience come out of a body that a brain evolved to run, a system without such a body would lack the grounding the view requires.
- Survival beyond death: No
- Because the mind is the body and has no separable mental substance, nothing of it continues once the body dies.
- Meaning and purpose: Humanistic only
- Meaning is grounded in bodily experience and its metaphorical extension, not in a disembodied reason or cosmic order.
- Virtual immortality: Unlikely
- If thought depends on a particular sensorimotor body, a disembodied copy would not reproduce the mind.
Related theories
Sources
- Metaphors We Live By, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980)
- Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1999)
- George Lakoff (Closer to Truth interview), Robert Lawrence Kuhn (2009)
- The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience, Francisco J. Varela, Evan Thompson and Eleanor Rosch (1991)
- The Body in the Mind, Mark Johnson
- The Meaning of the Body, Mark Johnson
Explore all theories on the Consciousness Atlas
