The Consciousness Atlas is an interactive web app that visualizes more
than 450 theories of consciousness. It is based on Robert Lawrence
Kuhn's 2024 paper,
"A Landscape of Consciousness". The Atlas maps theories that address phenomenal consciousness - the
subjective feel of experience, such as the redness of red.
What the Atlas is
The Atlas is a visual reference built on Kuhn's taxonomy. It presents
the full set of theories at once so you can explore the field visually
and open any theory to read its entry, like an encyclopedia with
structured entries. Each theory entry shows a concise identity line,
conceptual ground, suggested mechanism, empirical notes, implications,
and sources.
Why this exists
Consciousness is studied across disciplines - neuroscience,
philosophy, and sometimes spiritual or anomalous-state research.
Kuhn's paper collects and organizes hundreds of theories along a
spectrum from most physical to least physical. The Atlas puts that
organization into a visual form so readers, students, and researchers
can quickly see how different positions relate and where each theory
sits on the spectrum.
How it works
Theories are grouped into ten main categories, arranged by their
stance on the physical-to-nonphysical spectrum. Examples of categories
include Materialism, Non-Reductive Physicalism, Functionalism,
Quantum-based theories, Panpsychism, Monism, Dualism, Idealism,
Anomalous States, and Challenge Theories. The app shows the whole map
at once. Click any theory to read its structured entry, which includes
references to canonical sources and named thinkers.
Who it is for
- Students learning philosophy of mind and cognitive science
-
Researchers and lecturers looking for an at-a-glance comparative
resource
-
Journalists and writers who need a quick reference to the range of
positions
-
Curious readers who want a clear view of what people mean when they
talk about consciousness
What the Atlas does not do
The Atlas does not endorse or rank theories. It is a visualization and
reference based on Kuhn's taxonomy - collect and present, not judge.
It does not attempt to settle the hard problem of consciousness. It is
a tool for exploration and comparison.
A note from Kuhn
Kuhn explicitly states the project's purpose: "collect and categorize,
not assess and adjudicate." The Consciousness Atlas follows that
approach. The data and structure are derived from Kuhn's paper;
feedback and suggested corrections are welcome, but the app is a
visualization layer on top of Kuhn's work.
Kuhn was not involved in the design or content of the Consciousness
Atlas, other than his original paper, 'A Landscape of Consciousness,'
which is the sole source.
FAQ
What is phenomenal consciousness?
Phenomenal consciousness refers to subjective experience - the
qualitative feel of being aware, like the taste of coffee or the
redness of red.
How many theories does the Atlas include?
The Atlas visualizes over 220 individual theories, grouped into ten
broad categories.
Does the Atlas show which theory is true?
No. The Atlas presents theories neutrally. It is a map, not an
argument for any single position.
Is the Atlas academic?
The Atlas is based on an academic source - Robert Kuhn's 2024 paper,
"A Landscape of Consciousness" - and links to canonical sources
where available.
Summary
The Consciousness Atlas is a straightforward visualization tool: it
presents Kuhn's taxonomy as a single, explorable map and lets users
open individual theory entries to read structured, referenced
summaries. It is designed to make this complex field easier to survey
and to serve as a practical reference.
Challenge
Delaflor's Model Dependent Ontology
Consciousness as a Language-Rendered Model of Self and World
Delaflor's Model Dependent Ontology (MDO) refuses to commit to any substrate, material, mental, or otherwise, and treats theories of consciousness as useful maps rather than discoveries of what experience is. What we call consciousness is ‘C2’, the language-driven organization in which self and world are drawn as paired, practical distinctions; beneath it lies ‘C1’, non-egoic raw experience, and beyond that an undecidable limit that can only be pointed at. Delaflor offers the framework less as a rival theory than as a device, like an extended Zen koan, for clearing the ground every theory stands on.
Manuel Delaflor
What consciousness is
Conventional consciousness is C2, the focused, intentional, propositional organization that arises when language extends C1, raw non-egoic experience. In C2, experience is rendered as language, self, and world, and the world is part of what C2 renders, not something outside it.
Mind and body
Delaflor sets the mind-body question aside: mind, brain, self, and world are demarcations drawn within experience for practical purposes, operative but ontologically empty. MDO rejects physicalism, idealism, panpsychism, illusionism, transcendental phenomenology, Advaita non-dual idealism, and mysterianism alike.
Mechanism
Language acting as C1's intentional extension produces C2 and, with it, the apparent split between self and world.
Core claims
- Every derivation of consciousness takes place within what can be decided, so the undecidable limit can only be pointed at, never grounded or reduced.
- A shared world emerges from coordinated maps, which accounts for the absence of a private language without positing a world separate from experiencers; its patterns still resist individual will.
- Large language models are stateless events that mimic C2 surface structures without the continuous C1 availability beneath them, so they call for a framework of Artificial Cognition, not artificial consciousness.
- A science of consciousness should model how experience varies, not try to discover what experience ultimately is.
Criticisms
Calling C1 ‘non-egoic awareness’ and ‘raw experience’ while denying that it is a ground risks reintroducing the experiential primitive MDO disowns. A framework that declines every ontological position is hard to test or refute.
Implications
- AI consciousness: Unlikely
- Delaflor argues that current language models only mimic C2 structures and lack continuous C1 availability. He treats them as artificial cognition, not consciousness.
- Meaning and purpose: Uncertain
- MDO points to an undecidable limit that cannot be named and makes no claim about ultimate purpose.
Related theories
Sources
- Model Dependent Ontology (forthcoming), Manuel Delaflor (2026)
- We Do Not Discover Reality, We Create It, Manuel Delaflor (2026)
- Theories Are Never True, They Are Only More or Less Useful, Manuel Delaflor (2026)
- Artificial Intelligence as Self-Instantiated, Temporally Continuous, Disturbance-Driven Adaptive World-Builder, Manuel Delaflor, C. Delgado-Solórzano and C. Toxtli (2025)
- Philosophical Investigations, Ludwig Wittgenstein (1953)
- I Am That, Nisargadatta Maharaj (1973)
Explore all theories on the Consciousness Atlas
