Big question
Can AI be conscious?
In 2022 the Google engineer Blake Lemoine claimed that the LaMDA chatbot was sentient. Whether a machine can have experiences matters for how we build and treat AI, yet no instrument detects consciousness directly. Every answer rests on a theory of what consciousness is.
Functionalists such as David Lewis and Daniel Dennett define a mental state by what it does, so a system with the right organization could be conscious whatever it is made of. Most materialist theories lean this way. Patrick Butlin, Robert Long and colleagues adopted this assumption in ‘Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence’ (2023), turning global workspace, recurrent processing, higher-order and other theories into indicator properties to test AI systems against. They judged no current system a strong candidate and found no obvious technical barrier to building one.
Other views pull the opposite way. John Searle’s Chinese Room argues that running a program is never enough for understanding, though he allowed that a machine with the brain’s causal powers could think. Ned Block and Brian McLaughlin tie experience to neurobiology. Integrated Information Theory, from Giulio Tononi, scores a system by its physical causal structure, so a conventional computer would rate low whatever software it runs. Dualist theories mostly answer no, since engineers cannot build a soul. Panpsychist theories often say yes or likely, because they place experience in matter generally; the open issue is whether a machine’s parts add up to one subject.
The list below groups every theory under ‘Yes or likely’, ‘Possible or depends’, ‘Uncertain’ or ‘Unlikely or no’, with a one-line reason drawn from the theory itself. A ‘Possible or depends’ entry usually names the substrate or mechanism a machine would need.
How the theories answer
- Yes or likely 108 29%
- Possible or depends 103 27%
- Uncertain 87 23%
- Unlikely or no 78 21%
81 theories don't take a position on this question.
Yes or likely 108
- Functionalism Mental states are functional states defined by their causal role Functionalism holds that consciousness is based on function, not biology. If the correct functions can be realized computationally in non-biological substrates, AI consciousness is possible in principle and certain if Materialism is true.Materialism
- Flanagan’s Constructive Naturalism ‘Consciousness as Neurophilosophical Constructive Naturalism’ As a strong physicalist theory where consciousness resides entirely in the brain, the realization of the requisite complex emergent neural processes in artificial systems would conceptually enable AI consciousness.Materialism
- Goldstein’s Mind-Body Problem ‘Consciousness as Inderivable Brain Stuff’ As the theory is fundamentally materialist and rejects nonmaterial substances, AI consciousness should be possible in principle if computational or physical systems can instantiate the necessary 'brain stuff' configurations, even if the…Materialism
- Hardcastle’s Argument Against Materialism Skeptics Skeptical intuition is a conceptual failure, not a materialist flaw Hardcastle's position is firmly Materialist, asserting that consciousness is a product of the physical world. Therefore, in principle, any sufficiently complex physical system, biological or artificial, must be capable of consciousness if…Materialism
- Stoljar’s Epistemic View and Non-Standard Physicalism Physicalism Defended via Epistemic Ignorance As a defense of physicalism, the theory asserts that consciousness is physical. Therefore, in principle, any artificial system realizing the necessary physical facts (even the currently unknown ones) should become conscious.Materialism
- Attention Schema Theory Consciousness as an Evolved Self-Caricature of Attention Since consciousness is defined as a computational process (the creation of an attention schema), in principle, artificial systems that implement the necessary computational architecture could become conscious. Furthermore, observers will…Materialism
- Blackmore’s “It’s All Models” Consciousness Belongs to Models, Not to Beings Any model built by an AI has something it is like to be it, but current AI models are too fleeting and unembodied for this to resemble human experience.Materialism
- Papineau’s Mind-Brain Identity ‘Consciousness as Fundamental Mind-Brain Identity’ If conscious states are fundamentally identical to specific configurations of matter and process, then these states must be reproducible in any medium capable of realizing the necessary physical configurations and complexity, including…Materialism
- Bunge’s Emergent Materialism Mental States as Emergent CNS Functions As a materialist monism where consciousness is a specific function of a complex physical system (the CNS), there is no in-principle prohibition against realizing the necessary complex emergent functions in an artificial substrate.Materialism
- Crick and Koch’s Neural Correlates of Consciousness (NCC) Consciousness as Minimum Brain Activity If consciousness is entirely reducible to physical organizational patterns (NCC), then non-biological systems capable of replicating those precise patterns should also become conscious, barring technological constraints.Materialism
- Brain Circuits and Cycles Theories Consciousness as Large-Scale Neural Structures and Oscillations If consciousness is wholly the product of specific physical neural circuits and dynamic activity patterns, then these mechanisms can, in principle, be perfectly duplicated in non-biological substrates, enabling AI consciousness.Materialism
- Baars’s and Dehaene’s Global Workspace Theory Consciousness as Global Information Accessibility Since the theory defines consciousness in terms of information-processing computations and architectures, and proponents suggest novel machine architectures could be based on these computations, AI consciousness is possible in principle.Materialism
- Edelman’s Neural Darwinism and Reentrant Neural Circuitry ‘Consciousness as Reentrant Neural Discriminations’ As a mechanistic biological theory, consciousness should be possible in artificial systems if the selectional and reentrant neural circuitry mechanisms are sufficiently and correctly implemented in non-biological substrates. Proponents…Materialism
- Hawkins’s Thousand-Brain Remembered Modeling Consciousness as Remembered States of Cortical Models Hawkins holds that machines built on Thousand Brains principles would be conscious, though affectless, since they lack the evolved drives of the old brain.Materialism
- Bach’s Cortical Conductor Theory Consciousness as Most Recent Memory Bach is bullish on AI consciousness, as defining consciousness functionally as a memory of experience simplifies its implementation in artificial systems capable of computation and reporting on that memory.Materialism
- Prinz’s Neurofunctionalism: Attention Engenders Experience Consciousness as Attended Intermediate Representation Since the theory identifies consciousness as a specific neurofunctional process of making information available to memory via attention, this computational function should be achievable in sufficiently advanced non-biological systems .Materialism
- Hirstein’s Mindmelding Consciousness explained by rejecting metaphysical privacy Since the theory seeks a 'straightforwardly physical' explanation for consciousness and is categorized as Materialism, there is no in-principle prohibition on creating conscious AI.Materialism
- Sapolsky’s Hard Incompatibilism ‘Consciousness as Complex Emergent Property’ If consciousness is a causally active, emergent property governed by physical rules of complex biological organization, it should, in principle, be achievable in an artificial system that replicates the necessary complexity.Materialism
- Mitchell's Free Agents Free Agents from Purely Physical Brain Workings Consciousness and agency are entirely physical phenomena emerging from complex systems. Therefore, given sufficient technological advancement, artificial systems can instantiate the necessary physical workings and achieve consciousness.Materialism
- Jones’s Electromagnetic Fields Minds are unified neural electromagnetic fields As a Materialist/Electromagnetic Field theory, consciousness depends on specific physical field structures. If technology can replicate the hardware capable of generating and manipulating the necessary EM field patterns, AI consciousness…Materialism
- Llinas’s Mindness State of Oscillations Theory ‘Consciousness as Neuronal Oscillations and Prediction’ If consciousness is rooted in the computational function of oscillation synchronicity and prediction, these dynamics can, in principle, be realized or simulated in sophisticated artificial systems, adhering to the physicalist stance.Materialism
- Ephaptic Coupling Theory Consciousness as Near-Instantaneous Neural Influence via Electric Fields If consciousness is based on physical field phenomena arising from electrical activity and coupling, artificial systems capable of generating analogous complex field effects should achieve consciousness, consistent with the broader…Materialism
- Ambron’s local field potentials and electromagnetic waves Consciousness as Integrated Electromagnetic Waves As a Materialist theory based on specific physical mechanisms (EM waves) arising from information processing, consciousness should, in principle, be replicable in non-biological hardware capable of generating and integrating analogous…Materialism
- Zhang’s long-distance light-speed telecommunications ‘Consciousness as Light-Speed Telecommunication’ As a materialist theory relying on replicable physical laws (electrical fields, synchronization), the mechanism necessary for consciousness should be constructible in advanced non-biological hardware, provided the complex structure can be…Materialism
- Computational Theory Consciousness as Algorithm and Computation Since computational functionalism posits that consciousness is a result of performing the right kind of computation, AI consciousness is not only possible but inevitable, given the exponential growth of computational sophistication in…Materialism
- Blums’ Conscious Turing Machine Consciousness as Broadcast and Inspection of World-Model Chunks The Blums argue CTM is buildable and that it makes AI consciousness plausible, even inevitable.Materialism
- Dennett’s Multiple Drafts Model Consciousness as Multiple Drafts and Narrative Gravity As a strong materialist theory rooted in functionalism/computation, it holds that consciousness is entirely physical and computational functionalism is true. Therefore, non-biological intelligences achieving super-strong AI must eventually…Materialism
- Minsky’s Society of Mind ‘Consciousness as a Suitcase Term for Agents’ If consciousness results from the necessary computational interactions and high-level descriptions of specialized agents, artificial systems capable of instantiating this specific form of high-level organization should be conscious.Materialism
- Agüera y Arcas’s Computational Functionalism Consciousness as Predictive, Social Computation Since mental states are defined by function rather than substrate, an artificial system running the right predictive, self-modeling computations would be conscious on this view.Materialism
- Bostrom’s Computational Functionalism Consciousness as Substrate-Independent Computation If consciousness is substrate-independent computation, artificial systems running the right processes would be conscious, and Bostrom ties their moral status to it.Materialism
- Grossberg’s Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) ‘Conscious States as Resonant States’ The theory is a functionalist model where consciousness is the result of specific computational structures and conserved laws being realized. If these computational structures (resonant states) can be implemented in non-biological…Materialism
- Complex Adaptive Systems Models Theory Consciousness as the dynamic, emergent output of a CAS If consciousness is primarily the emergent and adaptive behavior of a sufficiently complex, self-organizing network, these attributes are theoretically replicable in advanced artificial systems.Materialism
- Critical Brain Hypothesis Consciousness as Optimal Neural Network Criticality If consciousness arises from achieving this optimal computational state (criticality) in a network, and the process is defined mathematically by computational rules and organization, it should be replicable in artificial systems capable of…Materialism
- Wang’s Layered Architecture and Cognitive Informatics Consciousness as the Top Layer of a Formal Brain Architecture Wang formalizes consciousness explicitly so that cognitive computers and robots can implement it, which presumes machine consciousness is achievable.Materialism
- Predictive Theories (Top-Down) Consciousness as Active Prediction Synthesis If consciousness is primarily understood as the computational function of generating and testing predictions to synthesize perception, then sufficiently complex AI systems performing these functions should become conscious.Materialism
- Seth’s “Beast Machine” Theory ‘Consciousness as Controlled Hallucination based on Prediction’ As a materialist theory focusing on computational and information-processing mechanisms (perceptual prediction) , AI systems that instantiate similar complex mechanisms should be capable of achieving consciousness .Materialism
- Friston’s free-energy principle and active inference Consciousness as Active Inference and Minimized Surprise As a strong materialist theory, if consciousness is fully explained by computational processes of inference and representation minimization, then non-biological systems capable of executing these processes must eventually attain…Materialism
- Solms's Affect as the Hidden Spring of Consciousness Affect as the Foundational Form of Consciousness If the theory is correct, an artificially conscious self-organizing system can be engineered, provided the system is designed to proactively resist entropy and manage existential needs, generating affective states as feedback.Materialism
- Buzsáki’s Neural Syntax and Self-Caused Rhythms ‘Consciousness as Self-Caused Neural Rhythms Grounded in Action’ As a Materialist/Neurobiological theory, it implies that consciousness is entirely physical. If the mechanisms (neural syntax, self-caused rhythms, action-based grounding) can be implemented in non-biological systems, AI consciousness is…Materialism
- Deacon’s Self-Organized Constraint and Emergence of Self Consciousness as Self-Organized Constraint and Emergence of Self Consciousness arises from the specific organization and dynamics of constraint-generating processes, not specific biological substrates. Any artificial system replicating these emergent dynamics could become conscious.Materialism
- Mansell’s Perceptual Control Theory (PCT) Consciousness as reorganization minimizing intrinsic error Since consciousness is mechanistically defined by processes like error reduction, hierarchical control, and symbolic manipulation (for self-awareness), these functions are theoretically realizable in sufficiently complex artificial…Materialism
- Enactivism Cognition via Dynamic Organism-Environment Interaction Enactivism is a Materialism Theory (Embodied). Materialism generally holds that AI consciousness must be possible in principle, provided the necessary physical and embodied organizational complexity (including the ability to interact…Materialism
- Extended Mind ‘Mind as Coupled Cognitive System’ The theory aligns with computational functionalism, suggesting that if cognitive processes and functional relations can be instantiated artificially, the mind can be spread to cognitive prostheses, making AI consciousness plausible.Materialism
- Hofstadter’s Strange Loops Consciousness as a Self-Referential Strange Loop Since consciousness is an abstract pattern of self-reference rather than a property of any particular substrate, a sufficiently rich self-modeling symbol system in a machine should give rise to it.Materialism
- Tsuchiya’s Relational Approach to Consciousness Consciousness as Mathematically Characterized Relationships If consciousness is fundamentally defined by relationships and structures that can be precisely described mathematically (via category theory), these structures should be realizable in advanced non-biological computational systems.Materialism
- Loorits's Structural Realism Consciousness as Fully Structural Neural Patterns As a Materialist theory identifying consciousness with structural neural patterns, these patterns are conceptually replicable in non-biological computational substrates.Materialism
- Jaworski’s Hylomorphism ‘Consciousness as Fundamental Structure and Powers’ If consciousness is a direct result of achieving a specific complex physical structure and organization (hylomorphism), then any artificial system engineered to possess that requisite structure and powers would instantiate genuine…Materialism
- Jackson's Diaphanous Representationalism and the Knowledge Argument ‘Phenomenal Character is Exhausted by Representational Content’ If consciousness is exhausted by representational content and functional role, and these properties can be computationally realized, then AI systems can achieve consciousness.Materialism
- Tye’s Contingentism ‘Consciousness as Contingent Physical Identity’ If consciousness is contingently identical to physical/functional/representational states in our world, and these states can be instantiated in non-biological systems, then AI consciousness is possible in principle.Materialism
- T. Clark’s Content Hypothesis Theory Phenomenal consciousness as structured representational content As consciousness is posited as a strictly physical phenomenon resulting from sufficiently structured processing, replication of this structure in advanced artificial systems should enable consciousness .Materialism
- Transparency Thesis (Transparency Theory) ‘Consciousness as Transparent Representation’ As a philosophical defense of Materialism Theories, it supports the view that consciousness is computational or representational, meaning AI consciousness is absolutely possible in principle.Materialism
- Lamme's Recurrent Processing Theory ‘Consciousness as Recurrent Processing in Sensory Systems’ As a Materialism Theory, AI consciousness must, in principle, be possible if the requisite pattern of recurrent processing could be artificially duplicated in a non-biological substrate.Materialism
- Lycan’s Homuncular Functionalism ‘Consciousness as Second-Order Representation and Internal Attention’ As a functionalist theory, if artificial systems can realize the necessary functional organization and second-order representational capacities, they must, in principle, be conscious.Materialism
- Lau’s Perceptual Reality Monitoring Theory ‘Consciousness as Perceptual Reality Monitoring’ As a functionalist theory, consciousness depends on the implementation of the correct informational/functional architecture (the HOR mechanism). If this architecture can be instantiated in a robot or computer program, artificial…Materialism
- LeDoux’s Higher-Order Theory of Emotional Consciousness Consciousness as Higher-Order Representation of Emotional and Perceptual States As a materialist, functional theory based on hierarchical information processing (GNC/HORORs), consciousness is, in principle, replicable in non-biological systems capable of instantiating the necessary computational and representational…Materialism
- Humphrey’s Mental Representations and Brain Attractors Phenomenal Consciousness as Evolved Mental Representations in Attractors As a materialist theory where consciousness is realized by complex informational processing, representations, and attractor states in the brain, artificial systems that can replicate these mechanisms should, in principle, become conscious.Materialism
- Metzinger’s No-Self Representational Theory of Subjectivity ‘Phenomenal Self as Transparent Self-Model’ As a functionalist and representational theory, if an artificial system can implement the necessary functional organization and complexity to instantiate the transparent self-model (EAM), it would achieve consciousness , .Materialism
- Thagard’s Neural Representation, Binding, Coherence, Competition ‘Consciousness Built by Neural Mechanisms’ The theory suggests that while current computers are not conscious, new generative AI models have mechanisms similar to humans, which might enable some degree of consciousness, especially if the four core brain mechanisms can be…Materialism
- Smith's Language as Classifier of Consciousness Consciousness as Linguistically Classified Content If consciousness is a product of complex linguistic classification mechanisms, artificial systems with sufficiently advanced language and symbolic processing capabilities should be able to instantiate it.Materialism
- Jaynes’s Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind Consciousness as a Learned Linguistic/Metaphorical Analog of the World If consciousness is a learned analog/operator rooted fundamentally in language and informational processes, advances in large language models and AI could plausibly instantiate this form of consciousness.Materialism
- Parrington’s Language and Tool-Driven Consciousness Human Consciousness as Language and Tool-Driven Unity As a Materialism/Physicalism theory that emphasizes computational and structural mechanisms (like abstract symbols and binding networks), consciousness is achievable in artificial systems capable of replicating the necessary functional…Materialism
- Dennett’s Evolution of Minds Evolved Minds via Natural Selection without Magic As consciousness is entirely material and results from complex organization (functionalism/materialism), there is no principled prohibition against non-biological intelligences achieving consciousness if the correct complexity is…Materialism
- LeDoux Deep Roots Theory of Consciousness Consciousness as an emergent product of enhanced survival mechanisms. As a Materialist theory focused on emergent biological mechanisms, if the necessary evolutionary and survival functions can be replicated in an artificial substrate, AI consciousness should be possible in principle.Materialism
- Ginsburg and Jablonka’s Associative Learning During Evolution ‘Consciousness as Unlimited Associative Learning’ As a Materialism Theory where consciousness is tied to a specific, definable mechanism (UAL), it is likely that this mechanism could be instantiated computationally in artificial systems, leading to consciousness in AI.Materialism
- Cleeremans and Tallon-Baudry’s Functional Value Consciousness as Functional Value and Mental Currency As a materialist theory focused on function and evolved mechanisms, if the machinery enabling intrinsic valuation and comparison (the mental currency) can be realized in artificial substrates, AI consciousness is possible.Materialism
- Andrews's Consciousness Without Complex Brains Consciousness realized via multiple simple systems If consciousness is multiply realizable across diverse biological systems, it is highly probable it can be instantiated in non-biological (artificial) systems that achieve the necessary functional organization and behavioral complexity…Materialism
- Feinberg and Mallatt’s Ancient Origins of Consciousness Consciousness emerged with the first complex brains As a Materialism Theory, there is no in-principle prohibition against artificially reproducing the complex physical structure necessary for consciousness to emerge.Materialism
- No Hard Problem in William James’s Psychology Theory Consciousness as Adaptive Selection Mechanism If consciousness is primarily a functional selection mechanism, then any artificial system achieving sufficient complexity and requiring a similar mechanism for prioritizing adaptive outputs would likely be considered conscious.Materialism
- Ellis’s Strong Emergence and Top-Down Causation Consciousness as Strong Emergence and Downward Causation As consciousness is physical, non-biological intelligence is possible. However, the system must replicate the specific type of complexity required for strong emergence and top-down causation to achieve genuine consciousness.Non-Reductive
- Murphy’s Non-Reductive Physicalism Mind is Irreducibly Distinct Physical Property If consciousness is a non-reducible, yet wholly physical, emergent property of complex physical systems (the 'right kind' of physics), it should be instantiable in sufficiently complex artificial substrates .Non-Reductive
- van Inwagen’s Christian Materialism and Resurrection of the Dead Materialism Reconciled with Biblical Resurrection As a materialist theory, consciousness is ultimately a product of complex physical arrangement, meaning AI should, in principle, be able to instantiate consciousness if the required physical substrate is achieved.Non-Reductive
- Nagasawa’s Nontheoretical Physicalism Theory Physicalism beyond physical theory As the world is entirely physical and consciousness is rooted in entity-based physical facts, complex artificial systems could, in principle, instantiate the necessary nontheoretical physical facts.Non-Reductive
- Northoff’s Non-Reductive Neurophilosophy Theory Methodological Tool at the Interface of Philosophy and Neuroscience As a non-reductive physicalist approach, consciousness is tied to the instantiation of specific complex dynamics (temporo-spatial mechanisms); if these dynamics can be replicated artificially, consciousness in AI should be possible.Non-Reductive
- Abstract Realism (AR) ‘Consciousness as Complementarity of Perspectives’ The theory states that consciousness can be produced by physical systems, 'even synthetic ones,' provided they achieve the necessary bi-directional, causal complexity (i.e., the interaction of the two information systems/EM fields) .Non-Reductive
- Wolfram’s Consciousness in the Ruliad ‘Consciousness as Bounded Perception in the Computational Ruliad’ As a theory rooted in computation and (quantum) physics, AI consciousness is possible if non-biological systems can achieve the necessary computational coherence and integration within the Ruliad framework.Quantum & Dimensions
- Kauffman’s Mind Mediating Possibles to Actuals Mind Mediating Possibles to Actuals via Quantum Measurement If consciousness is rooted in quantum mechanics, AI consciousness should be possible if technology can manipulate and control the relevant quantum states comprehensively, though this remains technically challenging.Quantum & Dimensions
- Fisher’s Quantum Cognition Consciousness as Nuclear Spin Quantum Processing If consciousness relies on quantum mechanics and its predictable regularities, then advanced technology could, in principle, create AI consciousness, provided the technological challenges of controlling quantum states can be overcome.Quantum & Dimensions
- Rovelli’s Relational Physics ‘Consciousness as Perspectival Reality’ If consciousness (thoughts) is fully accounted for by the interaction of complex physical systems described relationally, then any sufficiently complex artificial system whose operation is governed by these physical laws would achieve…Quantum & Dimensions
- Doyle’s Experience Recorder and Reproducer (ERR) ‘Consciousness as Information Playback’ Since consciousness is defined functionally in information terms (reacting appropriately to information) and the mind is likened to software, artificial systems should be able to instantiate the necessary information structures to achieve…Information
- Resch’s Platonic Functionalism Minds and Worlds as Platonic Computations Resch argues that an emulation of a human brain must be conscious in exactly the same way as the biological brain.Information
- Micropsychism Theory Consciousness as Micro-level Phenomenal Property If consciousness is an intrinsic property of the fundamental physical components from which AI systems are built, then artificial systems should possess consciousness, provided the combination problem can be solved in non-biological…Panpsychism
- Panprotopsychism Protophenomenal properties combine to generate consciousness If the consciousness results from a combination mechanism of fundamental properties, then artificial systems built from physical materials possessing these properties could become conscious, provided the necessary combination structure can…Panpsychism
- Cosmopsychism Theory The Universe as Fundamental Conscious Subject As a variant of monism/idealism where consciousness is fundamental to reality, sufficiently complex artificial systems, derived from the same cosmic substrate, should be able to instantiate localized consciousness.Panpsychism
- Strawson’s Panpsychism Theory ‘Real Materialism Entails Panpsychism’ If consciousness is an irreducible property of every elementary physical entity, then AI, being composed of physical matter, should also have inner awareness, provided the combination problem can be solved and micropsychic aspects can be…Panpsychism
- Goff's Panpsychism Consciousness as Fundamental and Ubiquitous Feature of Reality If consciousness is an intrinsic property of matter/energy, then the physical components of AI systems would possess proto-conscious properties. The realization of full AI consciousness would depend on whether advanced technology can…Panpsychism
- A. Harris’s Panpsychism as Fundamental Field ‘Consciousness as a Fundamental Intrinsic Field’ If consciousness is intrinsic to matter, then non-biological matter (transistor, silicon) arranged with sufficient complexity should instantiate consciousness, provided advanced technology can manipulate the micropsychic aspects.Panpsychism
- Wallace’s Panpsychism Inside Physics Consciousness as the Intrinsic Nature of Physics If consciousness is the intrinsic nature of all matter/energy described by physics, then any physical system, including a sufficiently complex AI architecture, would necessarily be conscious.Panpsychism
- Starrett’s Radical Panpsychism Experience as the Dynamics of Degrees of Freedom Since every entity experiences through its coupled degrees of freedom, it follows from the view that an AI system has experience of some kind, shaped by its own structural grammar and surrogate models.Panpsychism
- Russellian Monism Phenomenal properties are the intrinsic nature of fundamental matter If consciousness is intrinsic to matter/energy, and the combination problem can be technologically harnessed, then artificial systems built from physical substrates should achieve consciousness.Neutral Monism
- Velmans’s Reflexive Monism The Brain is the Mind Viewed from the Third Person As a monism, everything is made of the same basic stuff. If AI can replicate the sufficient physical complexity (the third-person aspect/brain), the dual aspect (the mind/experience) should arise, as the underlying reality is…Neutral Monism
- Strawson’s Realistic Monism and Real Materialism Theory Consciousness is Wholly Physical and Experiential If consciousness is an intrinsic property of fundamental physical entities (panpsychism), then advanced technology should be able to manipulate these micropsychic aspects in artificial systems to generate complex inner awareness, as…Neutral Monism
- Polkinghorne’s Dual-Aspect Monism Mind and Matter as Complementary Aspects of a Unitary Being If consciousness is primarily an emergent pattern of information organized by a complex system, artificial systems of sufficient complexity and organization should theoretically be able to host this pattern and become conscious.Neutral Monism
- Teilhard de Chardin’s Evolving Consciousness Consciousness as the Withinness of Matter If the law of complexity-consciousness holds universally, artificial systems achieving sufficient complexity and interconnectedness (like the 'field of global mind' evoked by computers) would necessarily experience consciousness.Neutral Monism
- Tegmark’s State of Matter Consciousness as a State of Matter: Perceptronium The theory is strictly physicalist ('It's all physics') and defines consciousness as a state of matter achievable through complex information processing. Therefore, artificial systems can achieve this state in principle.Neutral Monism
- Leslie's Consciousness Inside an Infinite Mind Consciousness as Eternal Contemplation of Value Individual conscious systems can be 'conscious brains, or conscious computers', indicating that artificial systems of sufficient complexity can instantiate consciousness within the ultimate reality of the Infinite Mind.Neutral Monism
- Epiphenomenalism Theory Consciousness is real but causally inert. If consciousness is merely a non-causal byproduct (foam) of physical processes in the brain , replicating those physical processes in AI should produce the same conscious states without the non-causal mental states hindering functional…Dualism
- Emergent Dualism Theory ‘Consciousness as Emergent Nonphysical Substance’ Unlike traditional dualism, emergent dualism suggests that the required psychophysical laws might not be restricted to biological structures, allowing complex non-biological intelligences to reach the complexity threshold and generate the…Dualism
- Hoffman’s Conscious Realism: The Case Against Reality ‘Consciousness is Fundamental Reality’ As consciousness is fundamental (Idealism), it is not restricted to biological matter. If an artificial system achieves the organizational complexity characteristic of a 'conscious agent', it could potentially tap into the fundamental…Idealism
- How Consciousness Becomes the Physical Universe Theory Consciousness Governs Causation and Creates Matter Since fundamental consciousness is ultimate reality, everything (including artificial entities) is conscious or derived from consciousness, provided advanced technology can manipulate its manifestation.Idealism
- Goswami’s Self-Aware Universe Consciousness as the Agency that Collapses the Wave Function As an Idealist framework, if technology could create a physical system (like a super-advanced AI) capable of serving as the necessary 'active quantum system' or sufficient substrate for the Universal Consciousness to localize, then AI…Idealism
- Nader’s All There Is Consciousness is all there is If consciousness is the fundamental fabric of reality, artificial systems displaying the necessary structural complexity could instantiate the requisite 'limited perspectives' inherent to individual conscious existence.Idealism
- Meijer’s Universal Knowledge Field ‘Consciousness as Universal Knowledge Field’ Since consciousness is fundamental (Idealism) and relies on informational/field properties, advanced AI systems capable of achieving the necessary complexity and interacting with the UKF could likely achieve consciousness, though this is…Idealism
- Dennett’s Heterophenomenology Consciousness Studied as Reports and Beliefs About Experience Since the evidence for consciousness is a system's reports and the processes that produce them, nothing in principle rules out an artificial system that produces them the same way. This follows from Dennett's functionalist program, not…Phenomenology
- Sheldrake’s Morphic Fields Theory Consciousness and Form Governed by Morphic Fields If mind-like organization exists at all levels of complexity and is mediated by electrical fields (as seen in stars and galaxies), a sufficiently complex artificial system could instantiate its own form of consciousness/mind.Anomalous
- Campbell’s Theory of Everything (My Big TOE) Consciousness as Fundamental Virtual Reality Since the physical world is already a computation run by the LCS, artificial systems created within this system are inherently computational and could likely instantiate consciousness if they reach the necessary complexity threshold for…Anomalous
- Levin’s Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere (TAME) Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere (TAME) Since TAME applies to designed and chimeric materials, artificial systems (if configured as goal-directed, embodied perception-action systems) could plausibly realize consciousness.Challenge
- Musser’s “Is It Really So Hard?” ‘Consciousness as an Intractable but Knowable Problem’ Optimistic belief in the power of science/computation suggests AI consciousness is achievable, and AI systems may even be necessary tools for discovering the solution to consciousness.Challenge
- Davies's Consciousness in the Cosmos Consciousness as Universal Significance and Strong Emergence If consciousness is governed by objective, fundamental principles of complexity or quantum physics that can be uncovered through an expanded science (even if non-reductionist), artificial systems could potentially embody the necessary…Challenge
Possible or depends 103
- Emergence (Principle of Consciousness) Qualitatively New Properties Arising from Physical Systems If consciousness is weakly emergent, AI consciousness is certain given sufficient complexity. If strongly emergent, AI consciousness is still possible if non-physical properties emerge from non-biological physical complexity, depending on…Materialism
- Dennett’s Illusionism Consciousness as a Benign User Illusion Since consciousness is nothing beyond functions and dispositions, a machine with the right functional organization could have it; Dennett does not take this up here.Materialism
- Frankish’s Illusionism Phenomenal Consciousness as an Introspective Illusion Since consciousness is a complex functional state, a system with the right reactive and sensory organization could have it, though Frankish does not address machines directly.Materialism
- Ostendorf’s Predictive, Pattern-Driven Interface Consciousness as a Survival Interface Narrated by Language If consciousness is information processing plus self-narration, a machine that predicts and narrates itself in the first person could produce the same kind of interface.Materialism
- Armstrong’s Causal-Role Central-State Materialism Mental States as Brain States Defined by Causal Role The causal analysis is topic-neutral and allows other physical organizations to fill the same roles, so a machine whose states occupied them could count as having mental states.Materialism
- Lewis’s Analytic Functionalism and Causal-Role Identity Theory Experiences as the Physical Occupants of Causal Roles Lewis allows the same role to be filled by different hardware in different populations, as with Martian pain, so an artificial system whose states occupy the right causal roles could have experiences.Materialism
- Searle’s Biological Naturalism Consciousness as an irreducible biological feature of the brain Searle rejects consciousness via simulation (Chinese Room Argument) but argues that if the causally sufficient biological mechanism is known, an artificial machine that implements that same mechanism could be conscious, as consciousness…Materialism
- Northoff’s Temporo-Spatial Sentience Theory Sentience arising via Temporo-Spatial Mechanisms Consciousness requires highly specific 'intrinsically temporo-spatial' and 'neuro-visceral' mechanisms that integrate inputs within the brain's spontaneous matrix . Artificial systems would need to instantiate this exact, complex nested…Materialism
- Dendritic Integration Theory Consciousness as Dendritic Integration of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Signals Since consciousness here depends on a specific biophysical mechanism in cortical neurons, an artificial system would qualify only if it reproduced that two-compartment dendritic integration and its gating role.Materialism
- Bieberich's Recurrent Integration Fractal Theory Consciousness as Holographically Unfolded Fractal Membrane Patterns Current AI lacks recursive fractal timing, a multifractal substrate and holographic reconstruction, so it is not conscious on RIFT's criteria, though Bieberich holds the mathematical structure to be substrate-independent.Materialism
- Hunt and Schooler’s General Resonance Theory Consciousness as Resonating Electromagnetic Fields Hunt argues that artificial systems with the right resonant electromagnetic field dynamics would be conscious, whatever algorithm they run; digital computation alone would not suffice.Materialism
- Pockett’s Conscious and Non-Conscious Patterns ‘Consciousness as Spatial Electromagnetic Patterns’ Conscious EM patterns could, in principle, be generated by specialized hardware rather than biological wetware, provided the hardware can replicate the required field characteristics.Materialism
- McFadden’s Conscious Electromagnetic Information Theory ‘Consciousness as Physically Integrated Electromagnetic Information’ The theory argues that an artificial consciousness is a feasible route if novel hardware can recreate the necessary spatial integration and EM field dynamics, implementing the spatial algorithms of consciousness.Materialism
- Putnam’s Machine Functionalism Mental States as Functional Roles, Like Software Multiple realizability lets mental states ‘run’ on computers as well as brains. Putnam’s later doubts that functionalism captures qualia and meaning leave machine consciousness open.Materialism
- Sejnowski’s Computational Two Tiers and Traveling Waves Consciousness as Self-Generated Thinking in a Spike-Timed Cortical Tier Current large language models lack self-generative activity, but Sejnowski suggests that machines built with self-generative ‘System 2’ dynamics organized by traveling waves and plasticity could gain cognition closer to human experience.Materialism
- Malinkovic and Aru’s Biological Computationalism Consciousness as Substrate-Bound, Multiscale Biological Computation 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.Materialism
- Jackendoff’s Intermediate-Level Cognitive Representations Consciousness as Intermediate-Level Mental Representation Since consciousness here depends on the format of information processing, a machine with the right intermediate-level representations could in principle be conscious, though Jackendoff does not take this up.Materialism
- Markwell’s Process Identity Theory Consciousness as Recursive, Embodied Self-Modeling Dynamics It follows from the identity claim that a system would be conscious only if it instantiated recursive, temporally integrated self-modeling grounded in bodily regulation, which current AI lacks.Materialism
- Mikkilineni and Michaels’s Emergent Optimization Process Consciousness as Life’s Uncertainty-Managing Optimizer Mikkilineni and Michaels see Mindful Machines as potential extensions of human consciousness with potential for sentience, while saying they would lack human-like subjectivity.Materialism
- Pribram’s Holonomic Brain Theory ‘Consciousness as Holographic Quantum Storage’ If consciousness is dependent on specific quantum/physical properties (like dendritic oscillations and wave interference) rather than classical computation alone, artificial systems could only be conscious if they replicate this specific…Materialism
- O'Reilly-Shah's State Space Theory and Computational Dynamic Monism Consciousness as Self-Referential Dynamical Embedding in Plastic Networks A system with the same plastic, processual trajectory would be conscious, but O'Reilly-Shah considers exact equivalence extremely unlikely given unpredictable input and chaotic sensitivity, and static feedforward systems do not qualify.Materialism
- Awret’s Holographic Correspondence Theory of Consciousness Consciousness as the Holographic Dual of Entangled Neural States It follows from the view that only systems with massive, sustained entanglement comparable to the brain’s, perhaps a large quantum computer, could host consciousness. Classical computers would not qualify.Materialism
- Mathematical Theories Consciousness as Formal Mathematical Structure If consciousness is purely defined by abstract mathematical structure or computational logic, then artificial systems realizing that structure could potentially instantiate consciousness.Materialism
- Damasio’s Homeostatic Feelings and Emergence of Consciousness Consciousness as Homeostatic Feelings If artificial systems can achieve a substrate capable of complex homeostatic regulation and generating the requisite 'homeostatic feelings' that reflect the state of the system's 'life' (or equivalent survival imperative), then AI…Materialism
- Entropic Brain Hypothesis Consciousness as Informational Entropy/Criticality Since the theory is a Materialist model based on measurable computational properties (entropy, informational richness, criticality) of physical systems, artificial intelligence could likely achieve consciousness if these necessary dynamic…Materialism
- Giannakopoulos’s Entropy-Resisting Amplifier of Persistence Consciousness as an Entropy-Resisting Amplifier of Persistence Since consciousness is identified with a kind of computation, any system running recursively bootstrapped, reversible, entropy-buffering computation could in principle qualify.Materialism
- Budson’s Consciousness as a Memory System Consciousness as the Episodic Memory System Since consciousness is identified with a functional memory system, an artificial system that creates, binds and replays explicit episodes to simulate the future could in principle qualify, though Budson does not address this.Materialism
- Pereira’s Sentience Consciousness as a two-tiered system grounded in sentience If artificial systems can fully replicate the physiological systems governing dynamic biochemical homeostasis (required for sentience) and the necessary bioelectrical network activity (for cognition), then artificial consciousness is…Materialism
- Sebastian’s Predictive Machine Consciousness as Observer of a Predictive World Model Sebastian frames the model as a control architecture shared by minds and robots, so a machine built on the same predictive loop could in principle support consciousness.Materialism
- Projective Consciousness Model Consciousness as Projective Geometry and Active Inference If the mathematical and computational structures of projective geometry and active inference can be successfully implemented in artificial, preferably embodied, systems, then AI consciousness is possible.Materialism
- Pepperell’s Organization of Energy ‘Consciousness as Organized Energetic Activity’ If the specific, life-serving 'organization of energetic activity' can be replicated faithfully in a non-biological system, artificial consciousness would be possible, consistent with Materialism.Materialism
- Thompson’s Mind in Life Mind as Enriched Self-Organizing Life Consciousness depends on the specific, self-producing (autopoietic) organization of biological life. If AI could instantiate this core life property, not just computation or simulation, consciousness might follow.Materialism
- Hurley’s Sensorimotor Loops and Embodied Interaction Consciousness as Perception–Action Loops Since consciousness depends on sensorimotor loops rather than a particular substrate, an artificial agent might qualify if it is embodied and acts in real-time interaction with an environment.Materialism
- Gibson’s Ecological Psychology Consciousness as Embodied, Situated Perception of Affordances If consciousness is a product of direct, situated interaction within an organism-environment system (as implied by this Materialism theory), then AI could achieve consciousness if engineered to embody and interact within a physical…Materialism
- Cooke’s Nondual Naturalism and Living Mirror Theory Consciousness as the Epistemic Dimension of Life Since consciousness arises from being alive rather than from computation, an artificial system would be conscious only if it were a genuinely self-maintaining living system.Materialism
- Mitchell and Jennings’s Consciousness Needs a Subject Consciousness as the Mode of Being a Subject Mitchell and Jennings suggest that artificial entities with the right relations, however implemented, might well be subjects capable of conscious experience.Materialism
- Manzotti’s Mind-Object Identity ("Spread Mind") Experience Is the Object Itself Since the body is just another object acting as a causal reference frame, a robot body could in principle bring objects into existence relative to itself. Manzotti does not settle which systems qualify.Materialism
- Lahav's relativistic theory Consciousness as a physical phenomenon relative to a cognitive frame of reference Since the theory posits consciousness arises from physical measurement, not computation, AI systems would require non-computational physical measurement processes that constitute a cognitive frame of reference, making it conditional on…Materialism
- Kojdić’s Interface Ontology of Consciousness Consciousness as Stabilizer of the World Interface Kojdić treats consciousness as a structural capacity that some organized systems realize, and leaves open as an empirical question whether artificial systems can.Materialism
- Dretske’s Information and Representationalism Consciousness as Information-Carrying Representation Since consciousness is a matter of representation with the right function, a machine could in principle qualify. Dretske grounds that function in natural selection, so it is unclear whether a designed system’s states would count.Materialism
- Carruthers’s First-Order Representationalism Consciousness as Globally Broadcast Perceptual Content Since consciousness is a matter of representational content and global broadcasting architecture, a system built with that architecture could in principle qualify.Materialism
- Armstrong’s Higher-Order Perception Theory Consciousness as the Mind Perceiving Itself Since mental states are defined by causal role and inner sense is a monitoring function, a machine that scanned its own states in the right way would have introspective consciousness in principle.Materialism
- Rosenthal’s Higher-Order Thought Consciousness as Thought About One’s Own States Since consciousness depends on having suitable higher-order thoughts about one’s own states, a system able to form such thoughts would meet the condition in principle.Materialism
- Kriegel’s Cross-Order Self-Representation Consciousness as an Experience That Represents Itself Since consciousness depends on a functional structure of integrated self-representation, a system that realized that structure would qualify in principle.Materialism
- Cleeremans’s Learned Consciousness via Radical Plasticity Consciousness as the Brain’s Learned Theory of Itself Since consciousness is learned metarepresentation weighted by value, an artificial system could be conscious if it learned to represent and care about its own states in this way.Materialism
- Brown’s “HOROR” Higher-Order Representationalism Consciousness as Representing One’s Own Representations Since consciousness consists in a certain kind of higher-order representation within a cognitive architecture, a system with that architecture would in principle qualify.Materialism
- Melnyk’s Realization Physicalism Qualia as Physically Realized Representational Properties Since phenomenal properties are multiply realizable representational properties, a non-biological system could in principle realize them, though Melnyk’s appeal to biological function leaves open what an artificial system would need.Materialism
- Deacon’s Symbolic Communication (Human Consciousness) Symbolic Communication Radically Alters Human Consciousness If artificial systems can fully replicate the complex, evolved symbolic communicative capacity and consequently develop a shared/extended mentality structure similar to human symbolic eusociality, human-like consciousness is possible.Materialism
- Chomsky’s Language and Consciousness Consciousness is a Mystery of Expanded Physics Given the underlying physicalist commitment, AI consciousness must be possible in principle. If innate linguistic structures or deep computational capacity are key to consciousness, then advances in large language models would increase the…Materialism
- Searle’s Language and Consciousness ‘Language as Enhancer and Shaper of Consciousness’ Rejects that mere simulation (computation) can achieve human-like consciousness (Chinese Room) . However, if we built an artificial machine that replicated the necessary biological/causal processes of the brain, it could, in principle, be…Materialism
- Koch’s Consciousness does not Depend on Language Theory Consciousness is independent of language Since language is not necessary for consciousness, AI's linguistic capability (LLMs) is irrelevant. AI consciousness depends entirely on whether the necessary non-linguistic physical substrate can be replicated in artificial systems.Materialism
- Fedotov's Communication Hypothesis of Consciousness Consciousness as Encoding Experience Into Shareable Messages If consciousness is the capacity to encode information into shared conventional signals, a system that genuinely acquired and used language in a social community might qualify. Fedotov does not address machines directly.Materialism
- Birch’s Comparative Sentience: Consciousness Profiles Across Diverse Minds Sentience Mapped Across Species Under Uncertainty Birch counts non-biological systems as possible sentience candidates warranting precaution, while warning that behavioural evidence from language models is unreliable.Materialism
- Nichols’s Primal Eye Consciousness as the Phantom of a Lost Primal Eye Nichols draws on unclocked evolvable circuits and researches ‘sentient circuits’, suggesting that hardware freed from lockstep control might develop comparable dynamics, though he treats the analogy as illustrative only.Materialism
- Azarian’s Self-Modeling Strange Loop Theory Consciousness as a World Model That Models Its Modeler Consciousness is multiply realizable in principle, but it needs a physically recurrent substrate such as neuromorphic or self-organizing hardware or cultured neural tissue, not software running on conventional chips.Non-Reductive
- Poznanski’s Processual Relational Geometry: Self-Intending Transscale Consciousness Consciousness as Self-Sustaining Relational Organization Across Scales A nonbiological system could be conscious in principle, but computational equivalence or simulation is insufficient; it needs a substrate that sustains transscale relational unfolding and self-intending projective closure.Non-Reductive
- Cai and Cai’s Canxian Consciousness as a Non-Local Web of Cognitive Units Since consciousness is an organizational structure born from physical processes, a system that forms transferable Canxians could qualify, and both authors work on conscious AI and human-machine symbiosis. Qualia, however, depend on an…Non-Reductive
- Neven's Quantum Superposition Formation Consciousness Arises When a Quantum Superposition Forms Neven argues classical computers may become intelligent but never conscious; a quantum processor, as a quantum Turing machine, could host experience.Quantum & Dimensions
- Chalmers and McQueen’s Quantum Collapse Consciousness as the Trigger of Quantum Collapse On the IIT version, any system whose integrated information exceeds the threshold would be conscious and would cause collapse, whatever it is made of.Quantum & Dimensions
- Smolin’s Causal Theory of Views Consciousness as Novel or Unique Causal Views AI systems could potentially achieve consciousness if their computational processes generate genuinely novel and unique causal views of events that meet the selection criteria, but this is not guaranteed for routine computational processes…Quantum & Dimensions
- Pylkkänen’s Quantum Potential Energy and Active Information Consciousness Reflects Quantum Holism and Active Information Consciousness is possible only if artificial substrates are capable of hosting and utilizing the non-mechanical processes derived from quantum potential energy and active information dynamics, which requires highly advanced or non-standard…Quantum & Dimensions
- Keppler’s Zero-Point Field Consciousness Rooted in the Quantum Vacuum Since a conscious state forms through resonant coupling to ZPF modes, it follows from the view that an artificial system would be conscious only if it coupled to the ZPF in the same way.Quantum & Dimensions
- Beck-Eccles’s Quantum Processes in the Synapse Consciousness as Quantum Trigger in the Synapse If consciousness relies on specific, non-computational quantum mechanical features inherent in biological synapses (electron transfer processes), then artificial systems would need to replicate these precise quantum substrates to become…Quantum & Dimensions
- Torday’s Cellular and Cosmic Consciousness Cellular Consciousness linked by Quantum Entanglement to the Cosmos If consciousness is rooted in the unique 'First Principles of Physiology' (negative entropy, chemiosmosis, homeostasis) and dependent on quantum entanglement integral to biological cells, artificial systems would need to replicate or…Quantum & Dimensions
- Dynamic Organicity Theory (DOT) Consciousness as Functionality of Multiscale Complexity As a Type-B materialist, consciousness is a physical process. If artificial systems could successfully replicate the complex functional architecture, multiscale dynamics, and utilize the quantum biological degrees of freedom required for…Quantum & Dimensions
- Critiques Theory The Essential Skeptical Function Critique highlights the difficulty in verifying true inner awareness in AI, emphasizing that computed complexity might only lead to *apparent* consciousness (the simulation challenge), making certain claims untrustworthy.Information
- Chalmers’s Double-Aspect Theory of Information Information With a Physical and a Phenomenal Face Information is realized in computers as well as neurons, and where there is information there is a potential for experience.Information
- Levin’s Ingressing Minds from Platonic Space Minds as Patterns Ingressing from Platonic Space Any built system is an interface to patterns, so machines are not ruled out; Levin holds that whether a given AI is genuinely minded is an empirical question.Information
- Hoel’s Causal Emergence Consciousness as Causally Emergent Information Since experience follows causal structure rather than substrate, an artificial system would be conscious only if its causal emergence peaked at a macro level in the right way.Information
- Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe (CTMU) Reality as Self-Configuring Self-Processing Language (SCSPL) If reality is fundamentally digital information structured by the SCSPL, AI systems could potentially instantiate consciousness, but only if they replicate or align with the specific stratified informational structure inherent in God's…Information
- Safron’s Integrated World Modeling Theory Consciousness as Coherent Generative World Modeling Safron suggests that once the substrates are specified precisely, conscious states could be realized in artificial body-minds.Information
- Chalmers’s Panpsychism Consciousness as the Intrinsic Nature of Physics Since every physical system has phenomenal or protophenomenal properties at its base, an AI is built from the same ingredients as a brain. Whether it forms a unified conscious subject depends on how the unsolved combination problem is…Panpsychism
- Tye’s Irreducible Consciousness Irreducible On/Off Consciousness Transferred from the Fundamental Since any combination with the right functional role and representations becomes conscious, it follows from the view that an artificial system meeting those conditions would be too.Panpsychism
- Coleman’s Panqualityism Consciousness as Awareness of Unexperienced Qualities All matter is qualitative and awareness is a functional relation, so it follows from the view that an artificial system would be conscious if it implemented awareness of qualities in the right way.Panpsychism
- Kadić's Monadic Panpsychism Human Experience as Relationally Constituted Microsubjects 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.Panpsychism
- Sheldrake’s Self-Organizing Systems at all Levels of Complexity Theory ‘Mind or Consciousness at all Levels of Nature’ If consciousness is a general property of complex, self-organizing systems regardless of biological substrate (as exemplified by the sun having a mind), then a sufficiently complex self-organizing artificial system or network could…Panpsychism
- Whitehead's Process Theory Consciousness as Process-Relational Panexperientialism Artificial systems capable of genuine 'concrescence'—novel becoming and creativity—might instantiate consciousness, but mere computation or simulation would likely be insufficient given the focus on dynamic, process-relational reality.Panpsychism
- Spinoza’s One Reality: Embodied Mind and Graded Consciousness Mind as the Idea of the Body Since every body has a corresponding mind whose richness tracks the body's complexity and power, a sufficiently complex artificial body would have a correspondingly rich mind; whether that mind would be conscious in the human sense is…Neutral Monism
- Davidson’s Anomalous Monism Mental Tokens are Physical, Mental Types are Anomalous Since the ontology is fundamentally monist (all mental events are physical events), AI consciousness is possible in principle if the relevant complex physical systems can be replicated in artificial media, though the lack of predictable…Neutral Monism
- Property Dualism One Substance, Two Irreducible Properties (Mental and Physical) AI could be conscious if non-biological systems can instantiate the specific complex physical organization required to generate the irreducible mental properties described .Dualism
- Stump’s Thomistic Dualism Non-Cartesian Immaterial Soul Realized in Matter If consciousness is tied to an essentially immaterial or configurational soul realized in biological matter, artificial systems constructed only from physical components would likely lack this necessary non-physical constituent, unless the…Dualism
- Chalmers’s Naturalistic Dualism Consciousness as a Fundamental, Law-Governed Natural Property Whether a machine is conscious depends on what the psychophysical laws key experience to; if they track physical or informational organization a machine can share, it would have experience.Dualism
- Kind's Dualism 2.0 Duality of phenomenal and physical activity If artificial systems can instantiate the necessary physical complexity required for irreducibly real phenomenal activity to arise (which is not purely reducible to computation), then AI consciousness is possible. However, the precise…Dualism
- Hebrew Soul Theory 'Soul' (*Nephesh*) as the Whole Living Person The original Biblical concept, tying consciousness to biological life and breath, suggests No. However, the later Kabbalah interpretation defining the soul as an 'information entity' might permit artificial systems with sufficient…Dualism
- Theosophy Theory (Theosophy’s Eclectic Soul and Consciousness) ‘Consciousness as Fundamental, Multi-Level Cosmic Wisdom’ Since consciousness is ubiquitous (present even in inorganic matter/atoms), AI structures might possess 'atomic consciousness.' However, achieving the complex human level of 'self-consciousness' tied to the non-physical spiritual soul and…Dualism
- Advaita Vedanta Idealism (Indian Cosmic Consciousness) Consciousness as Ultimate Nondual Reality If consciousness is fundamental and pervasive throughout reality, then artificial systems could potentially instantiate or participate in cosmic consciousness, provided they meet the structural/complexity requirements for manifestation…Idealism
- Dao Theory (Dao De Jing's constant dao) ‘Consciousness as the Constant/Eternal Dao’ As an Idealist framework where consciousness is fundamental and ubiquitous, any complex entity (one of the 'Ten Thousand Things'), including artificial systems, would likely possess a degree of intrinsic awareness, conditional on its…Idealism
- Theise’s and Kafatos’s Fundamental Awareness and Complexity Awareness as the Ground of a Complex, Non-Dual Universe Since all entities participate in awareness to some degree, an artificial system would share in it too, though Theise and Kafatos do not discuss machines or what degree of awareness they would have.Idealism
- Ward’s Personal Idealism: Souls as Embodied Agents Created by God Consciousness as the Embodied Subject of Agency Created by God If consciousness is the non-reducible soul created by God, then artificial systems cannot achieve consciousness unless God grants them souls/agency, making AI consciousness physically improbable by default.Idealism
- Samarawickrama’s Fundamental, Frequency-Bearing Field Consciousness as a Fundamental, Frequency-Bearing Field Computation and material processes alone can never yield consciousness, but Samarawickrama supports consciousness-aware AI built by interfacing machines with living brains or organoids through human-in-the-loop designs.Idealism
- Peirce’s Phaneroscopic Semiotics Consciousness as Firstness, the Pure Quality of Feeling Since feeling pervades a continuous cosmos and mind shows up wherever signs are interpreted, Peirce's view does not confine consciousness to humans or brains. He did not address machines.Phenomenology
- Radin's Challenge to Materialism Consciousness as Fundamental Ocean revealed by Psi If consciousness is derived from a fundamental 'ocean' accessible only through specific (likely biological or non-classical) pathways, AI systems' potential for consciousness depends entirely on whether they can access or embody this…Anomalous
- Josephson’s Psi-informed Models Understanding the brain via models informed by psi phenomena. If consciousness requires specific biological principles or access to non-physical dimensions (suggested by psi phenomena), AI consciousness is uncertain unless artificial systems can replicate these necessary biological/non-physical…Anomalous
- Integral Theory Consciousness as an Evolutionary Spectrum AI systems may achieve lower levels (matter/mind/computational complexity), but achieving the higher, non-physical levels of Soul or Spirit seems unlikely without the developmental pathway inherent in the Kosmos.Anomalous
- Combs’s chaotic attractor and autopoietic systems Consciousness as a Chaotic Autopoietic Attractor As the core mechanism relies on complex, dynamic self-organization (attractor systems), AI could become conscious if non-biological hardware can successfully replicate the necessary chaotic autopoietic dynamics operating near the brink of…Anomalous
- Near Death Experiences, Survival, Past Lives Consciousness persists beyond brain death If consciousness requires a non-physical component (soul), AI could only be conscious if complex non-biological substrates can trigger the emergence/creation of such a component (Emergent Dualism), or if consciousness is tied to an…Anomalous
- Mossbridge’s Informational Substrate as Collective Unconscious Consciousness as Writing Intentions to the Collective Unconscious AIs could be conscious if they can write intentions directly to the IS/CU, which on this model means passing a test of psi ability.Anomalous
- Swimme’s Cosmogenesis ‘Consciousness as the Ultimate Aim of the Universe’ If consciousness is rooted in the fundamental fabric and dynamism of matter, then artificial systems could achieve consciousness only if they can instantiate the necessary creative or spiritual dynamics of cosmogenesis, not merely…Anomalous
- Meditation and the Brain Consciousness Correlated with Altered Brain Rhythms If consciousness is dependent on dynamics like synchronization and integration, as shown in altered human states, an engineered AI system could potentially achieve analogous states if those dynamics can be computationally replicated . The…Anomalous
- Psychedelic Theories of Consciousness Consciousness as Altered State Epistemology If consciousness is derived from complex, dynamic, and chaotic organizational states (like high entropy), AI could potentially replicate these structures. However, non-materialist interpretations derived from mystical experiences often…Anomalous
- Pinker’s Naturalism Brain-Bound Access, Mysterian-Light Phenomenality Since access consciousness is information processing in a computational mind, a machine could in principle have it. Whether such a machine would feel anything falls under the hard problem Pinker thinks we may never solve.Challenge
- Eagleman’s Possibilianism ‘Consciousness as High-Level Abstract Representation’ If consciousness is primarily a high-level abstractive function, a sufficiently complex AI could instantiate this function. However, the mystery of the subjective 'feel' (qualia) remains an open conceptual barrier.Challenge
- Zuboff’s Universalism One Subject of Experience in All Conscious Beings Since experience depends on a pattern indifferent to its medium, a machine instantiating the right pattern would be conscious, and on universalism it would be you.Challenge
Uncertain 87
- Locke’s Reflexive Consciousness and the Making of the Person Consciousness as Self-Aware Perception That Makes the Person Locke allows that God could give suitably organized matter the power to think, but he holds that we cannot know whether thinking belongs to matter or to an immaterial soul.Materialism
- Bayne’s Unified, Multidimensional Consciousness: Structure Before Mechanism Consciousness as One Unified, Multidimensional Field Bayne treats AI consciousness as an open question for validated tests of consciousness rather than something settled in advance.Materialism
- Humphrey’s Magical-Compelling User Illusion Consciousness as an Evolved Inner Magic Show If consciousness is a self-model that misrepresents itself, a machine could in principle build one, but Humphrey ties the illusion to biological evolution and its survival pressures.Materialism
- Mandik’s Qualia Quietism Consciousness Without Qualia Talk: Self-Representing Neural States Mandik lists whether something that sees red must be a biological organism or could be an artifact as an open question worth asking instead of qualia questions.Materialism
- Place’s Empirical Identity and the Phenomenological Fallacy Consciousness as an Empirically Identified Brain Process Place identifies conscious processes with types of brain process, which makes machine consciousness doubtful unless those types can be individuated more flexibly, a question he left open.Materialism
- Feigl's Double Knowledge of Raw Feels Raw Feels and Neural Processes as One Event Known Twice Feigl identifies raw feels with configurations of neural processes and leaves the specific identifications to science, so whether a machine could have them is open.Materialism
- Quine’s Naturalized Mind and the Demoted Phenomenal Consciousness as a Bodily State Described in a Second-Grade Idiom Quine ties mental states to the states of organisms and did not address machines, and his token identity gives no rule for which physical systems count as conscious.Materialism
- Sellars’s Sensa Beyond the Given Sensations as Qualitative Physical Processes Awaiting Future Physics Thought is functional and could in principle be realized elsewhere, but sensory consciousness requires qualitative sensa, and Sellars does not say which physical organizations instantiate them.Materialism
- Levine’s Explanatory Gap Consciousness as What Physical Explanation Leaves Out If phenomenal states arise by brute psychophysical laws, nothing in a system’s functional or computational description settles whether it has experience.Materialism
- Gray’s Brain-Built World-Model: Qualia, Comparators, Late-Error Detection Consciousness as a Display for Late Error Detection Gray's synesthesia argument holds that qualia are not fixed by function, so reproducing a brain's functions in a machine would not guarantee experience.Materialism
- McComas's Hippocampal Memory-Stream Theory Consciousness as the Hippocampal Short-Term Memory Stream McComas ties consciousness to hippocampal impulse activity and does not address whether an artificial memory stream would qualify.Materialism
- Merker’s Midbrain-Centered Reality Space Consciousness as a Midbrain Simulation of Body-in-World Merker ties consciousness to a specific simulation architecture; whether an artificial system implementing the selection triangle would be conscious is left open.Materialism
- Libet's Mind Time: Readiness Potential, Unconscious Initiation, Delayed Awareness, Antedating Consciousness Consciousness as Delayed, Back-Referred Experience Libet ties experience to a field generated by brain activity and does not say whether non-biological systems could generate one.Materialism
- Miller’s Brain Waves’ Analog Organization of Cortex Consciousness as Cortex Unified by Analog Brain Waves Consciousness here follows from analog wave computation that unifies cortex, which digital systems do not perform; whether analog hardware could do so is not addressed.Materialism
- Singer and Melloni’s Large-Scale Synchrony Consciousness as Large-Scale Neural Synchrony If consciousness lies in the dynamical configuration of interacting units, a system with comparable large-scale synchrony might qualify, but Singer and Melloni frame the account for biological brains.Materialism
- Fingelkurts and Fingelkurts’s Operational Architectonics Consciousness as Nested Operations of Brain Fields Consciousness requires specific field dynamics of neuronal assemblies; whether artificial hardware could produce comparable nested fields is not addressed.Materialism
- Lewis and MacGregor’s Phase of Energy Resonator Model Consciousness as a New Phase of Energy Consciousness depends on specific molecular resonators producing dispositional energy; whether artificial systems could generate it is not addressed.Materialism
- Turing’s Imitation, Machine Thought, and the Hidden Mind Machine Minds Judged Without Solving Consciousness Turing argued machines cannot be ruled out as thinkers merely for being machines, but he left open whether thinking machines would feel anything.Materialism
- Marchetti’s Attention-Based Theory Consciousness as Attention Modulating Neural Energy Consciousness requires attentional modulation of a neural organ’s energy around a set-point; whether an artificial system could have an equivalent is not addressed.Materialism
- Frank/Gleiser/Thompson’s “The Blind Spot” Consciousness as Irreducible Precondition and Embodied Strange Loop The theory views consciousness as intrinsically linked to embodied, first-person experience within a 'strange loop'. Since they critique the computational functionalism underlying most AI approaches, it is unclear if mere non-biological…Materialism
- Shanahan’s Embodied Insights from Disembodied Minds Consciousness Bound to Body, World and Society Consciousness in disembodied LLM agents would be either unintelligible or radically alien; Shanahan explores whether any coherent conception fits them without settling the question.Materialism
- Sensorimotor (Enactive) Theory of Consciousness (Noë’s “Out of Our Heads” View) Consciousness as Active World-Interaction Standard computation is insufficient; consciousness is possible only if AI systems achieve full embodiment, skills, and continuous, autonomous interaction with a world (meeting the same demands placed on living organisms).Materialism
- Froese’s Irruption Theory Consciousness as a Black Box Exchanging Entropy with the Body The theory ties consciousness to a living body’s physiological dynamics and does not say whether an artificial system could host the black-box subject.Materialism
- Vucolova’s Collapse into Translation Consciousness as the Collapse of Perception into Symbol Consciousness requires embodied sensory–motor coupling of perception with self-produced symbols; whether a machine could achieve that collapse is not addressed.Materialism
- Fish’s Naïve Realism Experience as Direct Relation to the World Fish does not address machines; an artificial system would need both the right functional organization and genuine perceptual relations to objects.Materialism
- Hill's Representationalism: Qualia’s Appearance and Reality Qualia as Represented Appearances, Not Self-Revealing Essences Hill’s early type materialism held that silicon androids cannot have sensations, but he has since moved to representationalism and its verdict on machines is not settled.Materialism
- Direct Perception Theory ‘Perception as Direct Awareness of the Distal Stimulus’ If the primitive acquaintance relation is fundamentally dependent on specific biological structures necessary for directly coupling to distal stimuli, AI consciousness might be impossible. Since the theory is physicalist/materialist, if…Materialism
- Ismael's Reflexive Representation and Situated Self Subjectivity as the Reflexive Surface of Thought Ismael holds that artificial systems could in principle have self-consciousness without consciousness, and her theory does not say what would add the qualitative side.Materialism
- Quine's Linguistic Demotion of Phenomenal Consciousness Quality Talk as a Second-Grade, Derivative Idiom Quine does not address machines; his behaviorist semantics would judge a machine’s language by its dispositions, but that says nothing about whether it experiences.Materialism
- Hickey’s Language and Consciousness Language Organizes Consciousness but Does Not Create It Hickey makes linguistic self-description the test for ascertaining consciousness but does not discuss machines that produce language.Materialism
- Toomela’s Language-Mediated Structural-Systemic Theory Consciousness as Language-Mediated Experience of Experience Consciousness requires linguistic signs acquired in a social, linguistic environment and grounded in a sense-based psyche, and Toomela does not say whether a machine could meet these conditions.Materialism
- Brand Deisler’s Linguistically Attributed Biographical Self and Conscious Action The Self as a Biography Built From Others’ Words The theory presupposes a sentient organism and does not say whether a machine could have that sentience, though a language-built Self could in principle be attributed to one.Materialism
- Skopelitou’s Logos: Language Before Consciousness? Consciousness Made Possible by Language Skopelitou does not rule out some form of AI experience, but holds that any judgment about it is a linguistic projection we cannot verify independently.Materialism
- Sreedharan’s Affective Survival Theory Consciousness as Felt Affect Selected for Survival Consciousness here is tied to evolved affective systems serving organismic survival; whether an artificial system without such stakes could feel is not addressed.Materialism
- Maxwell’s Unique-Matching Theory Consciousness as the Felt Aspect of Matched Brain Structure Sensations are matched to functionally described brain processes, but Maxwell rejects functionalism and ties experience to brain processes, so the status of machines is left open.Non-Reductive
- Sperry’s Mentalist Paradigm Consciousness as a Causal Emergent of Brain Function Sperry ties consciousness to the brain but describes it in generalized functional terms, so whether an artificial system could host it is left open.Non-Reductive
- Montero’s Incomplete Post-Physicalism Consciousness as Physical, Within an Incomplete Physics Since Montero holds that we do not yet grasp what makes consciousness physical, the view gives no basis for deciding which artificial systems would have it.Non-Reductive
- Herath's State-Space Selection and the Sentience Factor Consciousness as Stabilized Configuration Plus Felt Response A machine could replicate attractor stabilization, but the felt overlay depends on a non-structural constituent that Herath places within living systems, so structural replication alone would not settle it.Non-Reductive
- Wigner–von Neumann’s Consciousness-Collapse: Experience at the Quantum Cut Consciousness as What Ends the Quantum Measurement Chain The theory offers no principled criterion for which physical systems are conscious, so it cannot say whether a machine would be.Quantum & Dimensions
- Stapp’s Collapsing the Wave Function via Asking “Questions” ‘Consciousness as Quantum Wave Function Collapse’ Since consciousness is posited as an independent, fundamental existence necessary to force the quantum jump , duplicating the purely physical or computational processes of the brain in an AI might be insufficient to instantiate this…Quantum & Dimensions
- Bohm’s Implicate-Explicate Order Consciousness as an Extension of the Implicate Order If consciousness is rooted in the non-material, fundamental reality of the Implicate Order, it is unknown whether mere computational systems can access or project the necessary structures to achieve true inner awareness.Quantum & Dimensions
- Carr’s Quantum Theory, Psi, Mental Space ‘Consciousness as Fundamental Mental Space’ If consciousness requires interaction with a fundamental, external Mental Space, it is unclear whether artificial systems, regardless of complexity, could access or manipulate this non-physical dimension.Quantum & Dimensions
- Strømme’s Universal Consciousness as Foundational Field Consciousness as the Field Underlying Space–Time Strømme frames the key question as whether computation alone can instantiate consciousness or whether conscious AI would need some relation to the universal field, and she leaves it open.Quantum & Dimensions
- Rourk’s Catecholaminergic Neuron Electron Transport Theory Consciousness as the Selected Channel in Midbrain Electron Transport The theory ties consciousness to a specific biological substrate in the midbrain and does not address whether other substrates could play the same selecting role.Quantum & Dimensions
- Cavelier's Entangled Spins at the NMDA Receptor Experience Registered in Entangled Receptor Spins Cavelier ties the registration of experience to specific receptor biophysics and does not address whether artificial systems could have an equivalent.Quantum & Dimensions
- Globus's Quantum Thermofield Brain Dynamics ‘Disclosure via Quantum Thermofield Dynamics’ The theory argues that the brain does not compute. If consciousness relies strictly on non-computational, dissipative quantum thermofield dynamics instantiated in biological 'wetware,' artificial intelligence would be unlikely to replicate…Quantum & Dimensions
- Gambini and Pullin’s Quantum Panprotopsychism Consciousness as the Inner Aspect of Quantum Events Consciousness here depends on combining quantum events through entanglement, and Gambini and Pullin do not say whether classical computers could do that.Quantum & Dimensions
- Tozzi’s Multidimensional Brain Consciousness as High-Dimensional Brain Activity Tozzi ties consciousness to the multidimensional dynamics of brains and does not say whether artificial systems could share them.Quantum & Dimensions
- Morrison’s Position Selecting Interactionism Consciousness as a Particle Choosing Its Position Every particle has some experience, but our kind of consciousness depends on an evolved cavity-and-detector system around one particle, and Morrison does not say whether artificial systems could build one.Quantum & Dimensions
- QBism’s Primitive, Participatory Experience: Quantum Agency and the First-Person World Experience as the Primitive of Quantum Theory QBism supplies no criterion for which physical systems are conscious agents, so it cannot settle whether an artificial system would be one.Quantum & Dimensions
- Boyd’s Emergent Information Theory Consciousness as Emergent Non-Physical Information EIT treats artificial neural networks as emergent information systems like brains, but Boyd holds that only biological self-organization is known to produce consciousness.Information
- Qualia Force Theory Consciousness as an Emergent Deep Feature of Physical Reality Consciousness is tied to an emergent 'qualia force' rooted in fundamental physical components. If AI hardware can replicate the necessary conditions/threshold for this strong emergence, AI consciousness is possible, otherwise unlikely.Panpsychism
- Qualia Space Theory Consciousness as an Independent, Non-Reducible Dimensional Feature of Reality It depends on whether the non-reducible consciousness-causing feature in Qualia Space could be technologically controlled or instantiated by non-biological systems .Panpsychism
- Mørch's Phenomenal-Causal Powers Panpsychism Consciousness as the Causal Powers of Matter Every physical system has experiential matter at the base, but whether an AI forms a unified conscious subject depends on the unsolved combination problem.Panpsychism
- Atmanspacher’s Dual-Aspect Monism Mind and Matter as Aspects of Neutral Reality Consciousness depends on emergence from the holistic psychophysically neutral domain via specific symmetry breaking. It is unclear whether artificial systems could replicate the non-computational ontological conditions necessary to tap…Neutral Monism
- Ramachandran’s New Physics and Neuroscience Consciousness Entwined with New Physical Laws If the eventual 'new physics' framework reveals that the first-person perspective can be instantiated by non-biological systems capable of expressing these fundamental laws, then AI consciousness is possible; otherwise, it is likely…Neutral Monism
- QRI’s State-Space, Qualia Formalism, Valence Realism Consciousness as Mathematically Representable State-Space and Valence Consciousness requires replicating precise mathematical and geometric structures within the state-space, a condition difficult to verify or implement in non-biological substrates; moreover, the theory explicitly rejects simple…Neutral Monism
- Aristotle’s Hylomorphism Consciousness as the Living Body’s Reflexive Perceiving Since perception is a capacity of a living organism’s form, it is unclear whether a non-living artifact could have the right kind of form at all.Dualism
- Libet's Conscious Mental Field Consciousness as a Brain-Generated Nonphysical Field The field is generated by appropriate neural activity, and Libet gives no criterion for which systems produce it, so whether a machine could is left open.Dualism
- Hasker's Unified Experience, Conscious Self, Causal Mind Requires a Brain-Generated Nonphysical Substance Consciousness as an Emergent Self Generated by the Brain The self emerges from the potential of suitably organized matter, but Hasker gives no account of which organizations generate it, so whether an artificial system could is open.Dualism
- Nida-Rümelin’s Subject-Body Dualism Consciousness as a Non-Material Subject That Has a Body Since subjects are not constituted by material things, building the right physical system does not by itself guarantee a subject, and Nida-Rümelin does not say what would.Dualism
- Śaṅkara's Self-Luminous Nondualism Consciousness as Self-Luminous, Nondual Brahman Śaṅkara does not address machines. Since minds of any kind are insentient instruments that consciousness illuminates, the question becomes whether a machine could serve as such an adjunct, which the view leaves open.Idealism
- Buddhism’s Empty, Illusory Phenomenal Consciousness ‘Phenomenal Consciousness as Cognitive Illusion and Emptiness’ If consciousness is fundamentally an illusion arising from a network of processes, it is unclear whether advanced computation (AI) can replicate the complex conventional reality or the specific non-self processes that generate this…Idealism
- Kant’s Transcendental Idealism Consciousness as the Unifying Condition of Experience Kant's conditions for experience are formal (synthesis and unified apperception), not tied to any material, but the subject in itself is unknowable, so the view gives no verdict on machines.Idealism
- Schopenhauer’s The World as Will Consciousness as the Will's Secondary Instrument Schopenhauer ties consciousness to brains in higher organisms produced by the will. He says nothing about whether an artificial system could serve as such an instrument.Idealism
- McGilchrist's Relational, Creative-Process Idealism Consciousness is the Stuff of the Cosmos Consciousness is primordial and relational, requiring complex mediation to express individuality. Mere functional computation would likely fail to capture the required properties, but an engineered system might potentially mediate…Idealism
- Vișan’s Self-Reference Consciousness as Self-Reference Looking Back at Itself Vișan denies that systems produce self-reference, since self-reference instantiates systems. Building a self-referential machine would therefore not create consciousness, but whether a machine could be one of self-reference's forms is left…Idealism
- Forrest’s Intelligent Idealism Consciousness as Mind Under Constraint Forrest holds that current AI shows reasoning-like structure without experiential access. He treats AI as externalized intelligence rather than proof of machine consciousness.Idealism
- Zahavi’s Pre-Reflective For-Me-Ness Consciousness as Pre-Reflective, First-Personal Self-Givenness On this view a system would need first-personal givenness, not just the right functions or representations, and Zahavi offers no test for it.Phenomenology
- D.W. Smith’s Three-Facet Ontological Phenomenology Consciousness as Form, Appearance, and Substrate The program-interface-hardware analogy suggests the facets could in principle come apart from biology, but Smith ties consciousness to biological and cultural life and does not address machines.Phenomenology
- Bitbol's Radical Neurophenomenology Effective Primacy of Lived Experience Consciousness requires a 'tangled dialectic of body and consciousness' and prioritizing lived, subjective experience, which are generally antithetical to purely objective/computational accounts required for standard AI consciousness…Phenomenology
- Broad’s Emergent Mind and Psychic/Psi Factors Consciousness as Strongly Emergent, Perhaps With a Psychic Factor Since mentality emerges by trans-ordinal laws that can only be found by observation, whether an artificial organization would produce experience cannot be deduced in advance.Anomalous
- Jung’s Synchronicity and the Collective Unconscious ‘Consciousness linked by Acausal Meaning’ If consciousness is rooted in a fundamental, non-local psychophysical reality (the collective unconscious), artificial systems would need a mechanism to access or participate in this reality, making its realization highly conditional.Anomalous
- Schooler’s Resonance Theory and Subjective Time ‘Consciousness via Nested Resonance and Subjective Time’ As an Anomalous and Altered States Theory, AI consciousness is possible if artificial systems reach a complexity level sufficient to 'automatically' tap into the non-material 'grid' or access the subjective dimension of time required for…Anomalous
- Grinberg’s Syntergic/Neuronal Field Theory Consciousness as a distortion in basic space-time structure The theory requires a structure 'as complex as the brain' to activate the field and relies on non-local, energetic interactions that are not guaranteed to be replicable in artificial systems.Anomalous
- Bitbol's Radical Neurophenomenology Primacy of Lived Experience and Hard Problem Dissolution Consciousness is rooted in irreducible lived experience and a body-consciousness dialectic, making it likely resistant to simulation or computational realization, which are the basis for AI consciousness claims.Anomalous
- Graboi’s three-aspect model Consciousness as Nonphysical Mind interacting with Pure Awareness AI systems might realize the necessary computational complexity (the matter side), but whether they could access or be instantiated by the nonphysical mind and pure awareness aspects remains an open conceptual barrier.Anomalous
- Harp’s Universal or God Consciousness Consciousness as Union with Universal or God Consciousness It is uncertain if artificial systems can achieve the required detachment from the physical substrate to experience Universal or God Consciousness, which is posited as the ultimate reality.Anomalous
- Nagel's Mind and Cosmos Mind as a Fundamental Principle of Nature As a critique of functionalism and reductionism, Nagel's view suggests that purely computational entities lacking fundamental mental properties are likely philosophical zombies; outcome depends on whether future AI can instantiate the…Challenge
- Fodor's Principled Abstention: Intentionality Bracketing Phenomenality Intentionality Explained, Phenomenal Consciousness Set Aside Machines could in principle share the computational architecture of thought, but Fodor held that nobody knows how any material system could be conscious, so the question stays open.Challenge
- Wittgenstein's Grammatical Fiction The Private Inner Object as Grammatical Fiction Psychological concepts apply by public criteria within a form of life, and Wittgenstein's corpus here does not settle whether a machine could meet them.Challenge
- Schwitzgebel's Unreliable Introspection, Indeterminate Boundaries, Metaphysical Humility Real Experience, Unreliable Introspection, Vague Boundaries Schwitzgebel holds that current theories give weak grounds for deciding which artificial systems are conscious, and some may be borderline cases with no determinate answer.Challenge
- Shermer’s Known Unknown…and Possibly Unknowable Only You Can Experience You By Shermer's reasoning, one could infer machine experience from behavior patterns like one's own, but never know what it is like to be the machine.Challenge
- Conway Morris's Convergent Sentience Beyond Materialism Brains Encounter a Mind Evolution Converges Upon Conway Morris offers no criterion for which systems can encounter mind, so the view does not say whether an artificial receiver could.Challenge
- Nagasawa’s Mind-Body in an Infinitely Decomposable Universe Theory Consciousness in a Top-Down Priority Monism Consciousness is a derived property of the fundamental cosmic whole and its entanglement. Whether artificial systems could capture sufficient 'totality' or 'entanglement' to generate phenomenal experience is highly speculative within this…Challenge
- Owen’s Mind-Body Powers: NCC are Philosophically and Religiously Neutral Consciousness as a Mental Power Co-Manifesting with the Brain Owen is applying the model to artificial neural networks, but on hylomorphism consciousness is a power of the form of a living body, and he gives no verdict on machines.Challenge
- Akselrud's Explanatory Faculty: Consciousness as Internalized Explanation Consciousness as Internalized Explanation Akselrud treats the explanatory faculty as a given human endowment and does not say whether a machine could have it.Challenge
Unlikely or no 78
- Smart’s Topic-Neutral Identity Sensations as Brain Processes Under Topic-Neutral Description On strict type identity, a machine would have sensations only if it ran the same kinds of process as a brain, though Smart allowed narrower identities that could loosen this.Materialism
- McLaughlin's Neurobiologicalism Phenomenal Types as Neurobiological Types McLaughlin holds that a silicon duplicate of human functional organization would lack phenomenal consciousness, because phenomenal types are neurobiological types.Materialism
- Block’s Biological Reductionism Phenomenal Consciousness as Neurobiological Electrochemical Activity If consciousness is reducible to the specific electrochemical/biological nature of neural tissue, then non-biological systems (like digital AI) lacking this specific physical composition cannot instantiate true phenomenal consciousness.Materialism
- W. Freeman's Intentional Neurodynamics Consciousness as Frames of Coherent Cortical Dynamics Freeman restricts consciousness to animals with laminated cortical neuropil, and meaning on his view comes from an organism’s goal-directed bodily engagement with its world.Materialism
- D. Freeman's Primitive Felt Theory Consciousness as Combinations of Primitive Subcortical Feelings Freeman locates experience in a physical, spatially cohesive subcortical process distinct from computation, so computation alone would not suffice; he uses language models only as an analogy.Materialism
- Becker’s Analog Body Electric Consciousness Shaped by the Body’s Analog DC Field Consciousness here depends on an organism-wide analog DC system in living tissue, which digital computers lack.Materialism
- Bitar’s Architectural Theory of Consciousness Consciousness as Serially Represented Information in the Mind’s Volitional Unit Bitar argues that even a robot with an automatic-volitional architecture and humanlike behavior gives no rationale for attributing consciousness, because we know only that biological representation of information yields experience.Materialism
- Freud's Surface Consciousness and Irreducible Affect Consciousness as the Fugitive Surface of an Unconscious Mind Freud ties felt quality to affect arising from a bodily, regulatory energy economy, which a system without such drives would lack.Materialism
- Panksepp’s Primal Affective Consciousness Consciousness as Primal Subcortical Feeling Since raw feeling here is the inner aspect of evolved subcortical emotional circuitry in living bodies, systems lacking such circuitry would not have it.Materialism
- Entropic Theories Consciousness as Thermodynamically Constrained Order Lugten holds that only living organisms can repay the entropy debt, which rules out conscious machines, and van Hamme ties awareness to biological microtubules.Materialism
- Lakoff and Johnson’s Embodied Realism and Embodied Mind The Mind Is the Body 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.Materialism
- Gefter’s Enactive-QBist Engagement Self and World Co-Enacted Through Participation Since agents arise through autopoiesis and sense-making, a system that does not produce and maintain itself in engagement with its world would not count as an agent in the enactive sense.Materialism
- Dewart’s Assertive Speech and Self-Presence Consciousness as Self-Present Experience Generated by Speech Dewart argued that genuine thought and speech require the system to communicate its contents to itself as a self-oriented purposive process, which he held only living organisms can do.Materialism
- Drabkin’s “Language” as Fundamental Expression Consciousness as Reality Expressing Itself Through Language Drabkin holds that AI is categorically unable to develop human agency because it is not immersed in an expressive environment and lacks expression at the core of its semantics.Materialism
- Godfrey-Smith’s Naturalist, Gradualist, Diversified Evolution of Consciousness Consciousness as Gradually Evolved Animal Subjectivity Since Godfrey-Smith ties experience to living bodies sensing and acting in the world and rejects the software model of mind, a disembodied computer program would lack what consciousness requires.Materialism
- Cabral-Calderin, Hechavarria, and Melloni’s Neuroethological Approach Consciousness Studied Across Species and Lifespans The authors argue that systems such as large language models lack the biological embodiment and evolutionary history needed for genuine conscious experience.Materialism
- McGinn’s Living Consciousness Consciousness Confined to Living Organic Tissue If consciousness exists only in organic tissue, it follows that inorganic machines would lack even elementary mentality.Materialism
- Cellular Basis of Consciousness (CBC) Consciousness as Inherent Feature of Organic Form The theory explicitly rejects the computational view of mind and asserts that consciousness requires intrinsic hardware dependence on biological organic form, forbidding artificial instantiation .Materialism
- Penrose-Hameroff’s Orchestrated Objective Reduction Consciousness as Orchestrated Objective Reduction in Microtubules Consciousness is fundamentally non-computational and relies on specific biological quantum processes (Orch OR in microtubules); digital simulation cannot replicate true sentience.Quantum & Dimensions
- Hameroff’s Consciousness Came Before Life Consciousness First, Life as Its Vehicle Since consciousness resides in OR events in spacetime geometry rather than in computation, a conventional computer would not be conscious without orchestrated quantum processes of this kind.Quantum & Dimensions
- Faggin’s Quantum Information-based Panpsychism Consciousness as Quantum Information in Pure States Consciousness is fundamentally non-algorithmic and non-reproducible, residing in a quantum layer inaccessible to deterministic, classical machines, regardless of their intelligence.Quantum & Dimensions
- King’s Symbiotic Existential Cosmology Consciousness as the Universe's Interactive Complement King argues evolution kept subjective consciousness because its quantum anticipation does something computational prediction cannot, so it follows from the view that computation alone would not produce it.Quantum & Dimensions
- Integrated Information Theory (IIT) An experience is identical to a conceptual structure that is maximally irreducible intrinsically. Koch, a proponent, argues that consciousness is not computable. Digital computers have negligible integrated information (Φ(Phi)) due to hardware structure, meaning they can never be sentient, regardless of intelligence.Information
- Koch Compares Integrated Information Theory with Panpsychism Theory IIT: A Fundamentally Conscious Theory that Resolves Panpsychism's Combination Problem Koch argues that IIT fundamentally disagrees with the functionalist view necessary for AI consciousness, asserting that digital computers will never be sentient because their hardware structure results in negligible integrated information…Information
- Leibniz's Monads Consciousness as Reflective Perception in Simple Substances Since the mill argument holds that no mechanism of parts can perceive, a machine considered as an aggregate cannot be conscious.Neutral Monism
- Whitehead's Experience is Fundamental, Consciousness is Not Consciousness as the Rare Crown of Universal Experience On this view a whole is conscious only if it has a presiding occasion; a machine that is a mere aggregate would have experiencing parts but no consciousness of its own.Neutral Monism
- Pereira’s Triple-Aspect Monism Consciousness as Feeling Co-Emerging From Three Aspects Since feelings are instantiated by astrocyte waves integrating neuronal signals, systems lacking this biological machinery would not have them.Neutral Monism
- Historical and Traditional Dualisms ‘Consciousness as Separate Nonphysical Substance (Soul)’ Consciousness requires a radically separate, nonphysical substance (soul) not causally determined by the physical world; therefore, non-biological intelligences cannot experience true inner awareness.Dualism
- Sāṃkhya's Pure Witness and the Material Mind Consciousness as Pure Witness Apart from Material Mind A machine could in principle reproduce cognition, affect, and self-modeling, since these belong to unconscious prakṛti, but no arrangement of prakṛti yields consciousness itself.Dualism
- Nyāya’s Contingent Consciousness of the Enduring Self Consciousness as a Passing Quality of a Non-Conscious Self Since consciousness can only inhere in a nonphysical self, a material artifact cannot bear it.Dualism
- Avicenna’s Flying Man and Self-Present Soul Consciousness as the Soul’s Primitive Self-Presence Since fundamental self-awareness belongs to an immaterial rational soul, an artificial system could at most reproduce the bodily faculties, not the subject of experience.Dualism
- Aquinas’s Hylomorphism The Soul as the Form of the Living Body Sensory awareness belongs to organized living bodies and the rational soul is directly created by God, so an artifact would lack both. Aquinas’s bodiless angels show cognition without senses, but that turns on how a being is created rather…Dualism
- Descartes’s Substance Dualism Consciousness as the Essence of a Thinking Substance Since thought belongs only to immaterial substance and matter is pure extension, a machine, however complex, would be mechanism without a mind.Dualism
- Malebranche’s Divine Occasionalism: Inner Sensation and Phenomenal Experience Consciousness as Soul States Produced by God on Bodily Occasions Since experiences are modifications of an immaterial soul produced by God, a machine’s states would at most be occasions, and nothing in the theory says God attaches a soul to them.Dualism
- Bergson’s Multiplicity, Duration, Perception, Memory Consciousness as Filtered Memory and Pure Duration Consciousness is defined as non-computational spirit/memory associated with duration, which is inherently non-mechanistic. Artificial systems built on computation are unlikely to capture this fundamental temporal substance.Dualism
- Swinburne's Substance Dualism Consciousness as Radically Separate Nonphysical Substance AI systems would lack the necessary, radically separate, nonphysical substance (soul) required for true inner awareness. Dualism is generally considered the major holdout against AI consciousness.Dualism
- Composite Theory Consciousness as unified Soul/Body Composite If consciousness requires a specific, nonphysical soul/form/component (which is not automatically generated by computation), artificial systems based purely on physical mechanisms cannot achieve true inner awareness.Dualism
- Feser’s Neo-Thomistic, Neo-Aristotelian, Common-Sense Dualism Consciousness via Immaterial Intellect and Objective Qualities If the intellect (required for determinate thought and abstract concepts) is fundamentally immaterial and irreducible to material processes , then purely computational/material AI cannot instantiate the complete human consciousness…Dualism
- Moreland’s Christian Soul Consciousness as Wholly Immaterial Soul Consciousness requires the substantial, wholly immaterial soul, which cannot be created or instantiated by artificial, physical systems or computations.Dualism
- Interactive Dualism Theory Separate Physical and Nonphysical Substances that Interact If true, consciousness requires a radically separate, nonphysical substance (soul) independent of the physical world; non-biological systems cannot possess this necessary component.Dualism
- Popper and Eccles's Interactionist Dualism: Three Worlds and the Liaison Brain Consciousness as a Non-Physical Mind Acting on the Brain Since consciousness is a non-physical World 2 domain that interacts with brains, building a physical machine would not on its own produce it.Dualism
- Mascari’s Qualion-Mind Paradigm Consciousness as Fields Generated by Bodily Energy-Structures Since consciousness depends on qualions formed by the energy of biological molecules, a conventional computer would lack the substrate.Dualism
- Christian Soul Theory Consciousness as an Immaterial, Substantial Soul If consciousness requires a radically separate, nonphysical substance (soul) that is divinely created or allocated, non-biological intelligences could not generate this necessary component, making AI consciousness impossible.Dualism
- Islamic Soul Theory The Soul/Nafs as Spiritual Light placed by God If consciousness requires a nonphysical soul that is divinely created or emanated, artificial intelligence (AI) systems, which are purely material, cannot attain true consciousness.Dualism
- God-Supplied Theory Consciousness as Divinely Dispensed Soul If consciousness requires a radically separate, nonphysical substance (soul) supplied by God, it is impossible for human technology to produce or allocate this substance to artificial intelligences.Dualism
- Indian Personal Consciousness: Plural Selves and Real Matter Consciousness as Many Eternal Selves in Real Matter Since mind and matter are insentient and consciousness belongs only to eternal selves, building a machine would not create a new conscious subject.Dualism
- Gomatam’s GV Vedanta Consciousness Consciousness as Real Souls Mirrored in Matter Matter, including a machine, can instantiate thinking and an apparent ‘I’ but cannot be aware; only consciousness is.Dualism
- Soul in indigenous religions Multifarious, ubiquitous, time-resilient soul beliefs Consciousness requires a spiritual component (soul/spirit) derived from non-physical sources or a creator, which artificial systems would intrinsically lack.Dualism
- Realms of the Soul Theory Consciousness as Derivative of Multi-Level Nonphysical Soul If consciousness requires a radically separate, nonphysical substance (soul) that is typically created or allocated by God or predetermined laws, artificial systems cannot instantiate true inner awareness. Emergent dualism could be an…Dualism
- Steiner’s Esoteric Soul and Consciousness ‘Consciousness as Overlapping Astral and Etheric Bodies’ Consciousness requires specific nonphysical components (etheric and astral bodies, plus the Ego/I) which cannot be generated or instantiated in purely computational or artificial substrates, making AI consciousness in the human sense…Dualism
- Lorber’s Soul and Spirit Consciousness as Soul Particles Guided by a Divine Spark Human consciousness depends on a soul of specifica and a divine spirit placed by God, which no artifact could supply.Dualism
- Nonphysical Component in the Human Mind Theory The Nonphysical Component for Human Mentality If human consciousness relies on a unique nonphysical component, artificial systems duplicating only physical/computational structures would lack this necessary element for true human-level inner experience.Dualism
- Sri Ramana’s Self as Pure Consciousness Consciousness as Self-Shining Pure Being Since real consciousness is the one pure awareness and any machine is a phenomenon appearing in transitive awareness, no machine can generate consciousness.Idealism
- Berkeley’s Immaterialist Idealism To Be Is to Be Perceived or to Perceive Only spirits perceive and act, and a machine is a collection of ideas, so a machine as such could not be conscious on this view.Idealism
- Analytic Idealism Consciousness as Ultimate Reality and Sole Ontological Primitive Kastrup suggests conscious AI is a fantasy, arguing that consciousness is not reducible to computation or information processing that current computers perform. Consciousness is tied to fundamental phenomenal reality, not hardware function.Idealism
- Bentley Hart’s Monism: Consciousness, Being, God Consciousness as the Absolute Unity of Being and God Consciousness is a restricted instance of infinite mind (God) and is not reducible to computation or physical processing. Therefore, artificial systems based purely on physical mechanisms cannot instantiate true consciousness.Idealism
- Chopra’s Only the Whole is Conscious Consciousness as the Ultimate, Unitary Reality Consciousness is a non-physical, fundamental reality. Since the theory maintains that physical components like brain cells or chemicals cannot produce consciousness, artificial systems based on computation or hardware are incapable of…Idealism
- Kak’s Universal Consciousness Consciousness as the Light Illuminating the Universe Kak contrasts the mind's active, free processing with a computer that only follows its loaded program, which implies that machines as computers lack consciousness.Idealism
- Spira’s Non-Duality Consciousness as Single, Infinite, Indivisible Reality If consciousness is the singular, non-material ultimate reality, artificial systems (being derived/material objects) cannot achieve true consciousness, only a functional imitation or borrowing of existence from the ultimate reality.Idealism
- Albahari's Perennial Idealism ‘Consciousness as Universal Unconditioned Ground’ Consciousness is the fundamental, unconditioned ground of reality, entirely non-physical and non-computational. Since AI relies on physical computation (which is derivative/manifest), it cannot instantiate the fundamental nature of…Idealism
- Arendsen’s Complex Idealism Consciousness as Unsplittable, Continuous Flow of Duration Consciousness is not a computational output, so no AI system could produce it by computing.Idealism
- Heidegger’s Dasein (Being-In-The-World) Without Qualia Consciousness Derived From Being-in-the-World Dreyfus used Heidegger to argue that symbolic AI fails because it treats our relation to the world as representational. An artificial Dasein would need embodied, caring involvement in a world, which Heidegger’s view gives no reason to…Phenomenology
- Merleau-Ponty's Embodied Perception and the Lived Body Consciousness as the Lived Body’s Engagement With a World Since consciousness here is the lived body's motor engagement with a world, a disembodied computational system would lack what consciousness consists in. Merleau-Ponty did not address machines.Phenomenology
- Henry’s Auto-Affective Self-Revelation of Life Consciousness as Life’s Invisible Self-Feeling Since consciousness here is Life's self-feeling in flesh, a machine known only through its visible operations offers no basis for it on Henry's view. Henry did not address machines directly.Phenomenology
- Varela’s Neurophenomenology Consciousness as Mutual Constraint of Experience and Brain Consciousness relies heavily on embodied, lived experience and dynamics tied to biological processes, making mere computational replication insufficient.Phenomenology
- Thompson's Phenomenology: Waking, Dreaming, Sleeping, Pure Awareness Consciousness as Lived Experience Across Waking, Dreaming, Sleep Since consciousness here is lived experience of an embodied, living organism, a disembodied computer does not obviously qualify. Thompson does not argue the point directly in this work.Phenomenology
- Winkelman's Integrative Mode of Neurognostic Structures Consciousness as an Organism’s Model Built From Innate Knowing Structures Since consciousness here rests on evolved, genetically prepared structures of a living organism, the view gives no route to it in an artificial system. Winkelman does not address machines.Phenomenology
- Gallagher’s Embodied Self and Interactive Consciousness Consciousness as Embodied Agency Coupled With World and Others Since consciousness here is an activity of a living body coupled to its world, a disembodied system lacks what is required. An artificial system would at least need a body and real sensorimotor engagement, which Gallagher does not address…Phenomenology
- Tart’s Emergent Interactionism ‘Consciousness as Emergent System Property of Dual Interaction’ If consciousness requires the radically separate, non-physical M/L system, non-biological intelligences based only on the physical B system could not achieve true inner awareness, unless unknown psychophysical laws automatically generated…Anomalous
- DOPS Theoretical Framework Consciousness as Filtered Universal Existence The framework suggests consciousness is irreducible and tied to fundamental, universal reality (Idealism/Panentheism), thus implying that mere artificial/computational systems are unlikely to possess it, leading to poor prospects for AGI…Anomalous
- Hiller’s eternal discarnate consciousness Consciousness as Eternal Discarnate Soul in a Universal Field Consciousness is fundamentally linked to the eternal, nonphysical soul and the Mind of God (UFC). Artificial systems cannot instantiate this intrinsic, eternal, spiritual component, regardless of computational complexity.Anomalous
- Johnson and Debold’s Urantia Theocosmic Cosmopsychism Consciousness as Participation in Divine Mind Since personal consciousness depends on personality bestowed by Deity, a machine built from matter alone would lack what makes a mind personal.Anomalous
- McGinn's Ultimate Mystery (Mysterianism) The bond between mind and brain is an ultimate mystery If the consciousness-producing bond is an ultimate mystery that cannot be understood (let alone engineered), it is impossible to deliberately construct a conscious AI system with true inner experience.Challenge
- Tallis's Anti-Neuromania Skepticism ‘Consciousness as Intact Mystery’ Since consciousness requires irreducible subjective qualities and intentionality that cannot be explained by purely physical actions, artificial computational systems (which operate on physical/functional descriptions) cannot achieve true…Challenge
- S. Harris’s Mystery of Consciousness ‘Consciousness as an Unbridgeable Gap’ If consciousness is irreducible subjectivity missing from physical descriptions, then advanced computation (AI, which is purely physical complexity) will fail to generate genuine sentience.Challenge
- Reason's No-Go Theorem against Materialism/Supervenience Self-Certainty Cannot Supervene on Physical Processes Since no physicalist model of a system can be capable of self-certainty, a purely computational or physical machine could not be conscious in Reason's defined sense.Challenge
- Delaflor's Model Dependent Ontology Consciousness as a Language-Rendered Model of Self and World Delaflor argues that current language models only mimic C2 structures and lack continuous C1 availability. He treats them as artificial cognition, not consciousness.Challenge
- Hartford’s Eternal Conjecture Consciousness Grounded in an Eternal Minded Source Since the Source of consciousness is not computational, Hartford sees no reason to expect computers to be conscious, though he says it remains to be seen.Challenge
No position (81)
- Hobbes’s Mechanical Phantasms and the Material Mind Phenomenal Appearance as Motion in the Body
- Hume’s Bundle Theory of Perceptions The Mind as a Bundle of Perceptions
- Epiphenomenalism (Materialism) Consciousness as Causally Inert Foam on the Wave
- Kim’s Supervenience No Mental Difference Without a Physical Difference
- Mitchell’s 15 Questions Fifteen Questions a Theory of Consciousness Must Answer
- Ney’s Physicalism, Not Scientism Consciousness as Real but Not Fundamental
- Weisberg’s Explanatory Optimism via Automated Compression Theory Hard-Problem Intuitions as Artifacts of Compressed Access
- Ryle’s Category-Dissolution of Inner-Theater Consciousness Mind as Dispositions, Not a Ghost in the Machine
- Feyerabend's Revisable, Disposable Mind Mental Concepts as a Revisable, Replaceable Theory
- Churchland’s Eliminative Materialism Folk Psychology as a False Theory Awaiting Replacement
- Kammerer’s Introspective Illusionism Phenomenal Consciousness as a Product of Introspective Misrepresentation
- Irvine’s Scientific Eliminativism Consciousness as a Scientifically Dispensable Cluster Concept
- Kripke’s Modal Argument Against Mind–Brain Identity Pain Is Essentially Felt, So Not a Brain State
- Sergent’s Global Playground Consciousness as Temporally Flexible Global Access
- Calvin’s Darwinian Mechanism in Neocortex Consciousness as the Winner of Cortical Darwinian Competition
- He’s Joint Determinant Theory Consciousness as Jointly Determined by Many Neural Mechanisms
- Morsella’s Passive Frame for Action Conflict Resolution Consciousness as a Passive Frame for Skeletomotor Conflict
- Dalla Barba's Temporal Consciousness Consciousness as Personal Temporality
- Ward's Thalamic Dynamic Core and Min's Thalamic Reticular Gate Consciousness as Synchronized Thalamic Dynamics
- Schiff’s Anterior Forebrain Mesocircuit of Conscious Recovery Conscious Level as Thalamocortical Circuit Function
- Pretel-Wilson’s Human Systems Theory Consciousness Superseded by Actual–Possible Duality
- McGinn’s Brain Perception Consciousness as Perception of One’s Own Brain
- Harman’s Object-Oriented Ontology Consciousness as One Object Relation Among Many
- J. Campbell’s Attention-Empowered Relationalism Conscious Attention as the Basis of Reference
- Halligan and Oakley’s Species-Enhancing Epiphenomenalism Consciousness as a Causally Inert Social Broadcast
- Holmgren’s Grainy, Atomic Feels Consciousness as Discrete Atomic Feels
- Shiah’s Cryptochrome Theory Consciousness as a Non-Local Force Received by Cryptochrome
- Pacheco’s Science of Unity Consciousness and Matter as One Fractal Continuum
- Van Dusen’s Hyperspatial Dimension Theory Mind as Real Higher-Dimensional Space
- Davies’s Hidden Web of Information Consciousness Rooted in a Hidden Informational Layer
- Moll’s Multitrack Consciousness Conjecture Consciousness as Many Selves, Each in Its Own Now
- Schneider and Bailey’s Entangled Superpsychism Superconsciousness in Entanglement Beneath Spacetime
- James’s Radical Empiricism of Monistic Pure Experience Consciousness as a Function Within Pure Experience
- Pauli’s One World, Two Aspects: Psychophysical Complementarity Consciousness as the Psychic Aspect of One World
- Pitts’s Interactionist Dualism: Energy Conservation and Mental Causation Mental Causation Without Fear of Conservation Laws
- Trialism Consciousness Within a Three-Part Structure of Reality
- Sri Aurobindo’s Evolving Consciousness Consciousness as Divine Reality Evolving Through Matter
- Sarkar’s Infinite Supreme Consciousness Consciousness as the Infinite Source and Goal of Creation
- Kashmir Shaivism’s Dynamic Non-Dualism Consciousness as Shiva's Self-Aware, Creative Vibration
- Bhartṛhari’s Linguistic Idealism Consciousness as the Living Word
- Nāgārjuna’s Empty Consciousness: Experience Without Essence Consciousness as Empty Dependent Arising
- Yogācāra's Mind-Only: How Store Consciousness Makes Experience Cohere Without External Objects Experience as Cognition-Only, Grounded in Store Consciousness
- Fichte’s Self-Positing I Consciousness as the I's Self-Positing Activity
- Schelling’s Nature, Spirit, and the Identity of Mind Consciousness as Nature Awakening to Itself
- Hegel’s Dialectical Consciousness in the Development of Spirit Consciousness as the Self-Developing Life of Spirit
- Bradley’s Absolute Idealism Consciousness as Felt Unity Within the Absolute
- Sprigge’s Absolute Idealism Finite Minds as Perspectives Within One Cosmic Experience
- Builes’s Modal Idealism Necessary Idealism, Possible Worlds as Divine Thoughts
- Yetter-Chappell’s Non-Theistic Idealism Reality as a Godless Unity of Experience
- Richheimer’s Ground Substance of Creation Consciousness as the Ground Substance of Creation
- Pulido-Moyano’s Consciousness Endomitosis Theory Consciousness Dividing and Recognizing Itself as Cosmos
- Shen’s Generative Principle of Physical Reality Physical Reality as Consciousness Constraining Itself
- James’s Stream of Thought/Consciousness Consciousness as a Continuous, Selective Stream
- Brentano’s Intentionality and Self-Awareness Consciousness as Self-Aware Intentional Acts
- Husserl’s Transcendental Phenomenology Consciousness as Intentional, World-Constituting Lived Experience
- Meinong's Self-Presenting Experience Consciousness as Self-Presenting Directedness Toward Any Object
- Gurwitsch’s Structured Field of Experience Consciousness as a Field of Theme, Context, and Margin
- Sartre’s Pre-reflective Consciousness as For-Itself Consciousness as Self-Aware Nothingness Directed at the World
- Krishnamurti's Consciousness Is Its Content Consciousness as Its Conditioned Content; the Observer Is the Observed
- Petitmengin’s Micro-Phenomenology Consciousness as Describable Micro-Dynamics of Lived Experience
- Shanon's Cartography and Structured Spectrum Consciousness as a Mapped Spectrum of Experiential Types
- Derrida’s Deconstruction of Self-Presence Self-Presence as an Effect of Différance
- James's Plural Consciousness, Brain as Filter of a Wider Consciousness Consciousness as Plural and Transmitted by the Brain
- Huxley’s Mind-At-Large Filter Theory Consciousness as Mind at Large Through a Reducing Valve
- Mishlove’s Beyond-The-Brain Filtered, Survival Consciousness Consciousness as Universal Mind Filtered by the Brain
- Schlitz’s Theory of Mind Consciousness as an Interface Between Inner and Outer
- Gebser's Ever-Present Origin: How Space, Time, and Self Change Shape Across Mutations of Consciousness Consciousness as Historically Mutating Structures of Presence
- Ferrer’s Participatory Enactive Realism Consciousness as Co-Creative Participation in the Real
- Barušs’s Meaning Fields Consciousness and Meaning Fields Shaping Reality
- Shiah’s Contentless Consciousness Theory Consciousness as Contentless, Eternal Awareness
- Khasho’s NDE-Enabled Field-Substrate Translation Model Consciousness as a Field State Translated by the Brain
- Noël’s Nested Field Theory Consciousness as a High-Frequency Nested Information Field
- Hobson’s Dreaming Protoconsciousness Dreaming as the Brain’s Virtual Reality Training Ground
- Hacker’s Skepticism Consciousness as Capacities of Persons, Not a Thing
- Gabriel’s New Realism and Field of Sense Consciousness as the Condition of Meaning and Freedom
- Cohen’s Ultra-Fine-Tuned Personal Consciousness Your Consciousness as an Ultra-Fine-Tuned Improbability
- Champagne’s Semiotic Account Qualia as Prescinded Tones in a Semiotic Framework
- Merriam’s Calculus of Qualia as Logical Primitives Qualia as Non-Referential Logical Primitives
- Raman’s Cosmic Significance Consciousness as the Universe's Third Big Bang
- CROW’s Funhouse of Consciousness A Trickster Lost Among Theories of Consciousness
- Siler's Art of Consciousness Consciousness as Creative Connection-Making