Reasoning about conscious experience with axiomatic and graphical mathematics.
Camilo Miguel Signorelli, Quanlong Wang, Bob Coecke
Consciousness and cognition October 1, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2021.103168 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA mathematical framework using the graphical calculus of process theories (symmetric monoidal categories with Frobenius algebras) provides an ontologically neutral language to model aspects of consciousness. A toy example demonstrates how this axiomatic approach recovers features of conscious experience, including the distinction between external and internal subjective perspectives, the privacy or unreadability of personal subjective experience, and phenomenal unity—a key challenge for scientific studies of consciousness. These features emerge naturally from the compositional structure of the calculus.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Compositionality Conscious agents Conscious experience Graphical calculi Mathematical consciousness science |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key finding | Phenomenal unity, subjective privacy, and the external-internal distinction arise naturally from the compositional nature of an axiomatic mathematical calculus based on process theories. |
Abstract
We cast aspects of consciousness in axiomatic mathematical terms, using the graphical calculus of general process theories (a.k.a symmetric monoidal categories and Frobenius algebras therein). This calculus exploits the ontological neutrality of process theories. A toy example using the axiomatic calculus is given to show the power of this approach, recovering other aspects of conscious experience, such as external and internal subjective distinction, privacy or unreadability of personal subjective experience, and phenomenal unity, one of the main issues for scientific studies of consciousness. In fact, these features naturally arise from the compositional nature of axiomatic calculus.