Version 1
: Received: 28 February 2023 / Approved: 1 March 2023 / Online: 1 March 2023 (03:53:11 CET)
How to cite:
Tait, I.; Bensemann, J.; Nguyen, T. Building the Blocks of Being: The Attributes and Qualities That Are Independently Required and Jointly Sufficient for Con-Sciousness. Preprints2023, 2023030010. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202303.0010.v1.
Tait, I.; Bensemann, J.; Nguyen, T. Building the Blocks of Being: The Attributes and Qualities That Are Independently Required and Jointly Sufficient for Con-Sciousness. Preprints 2023, 2023030010. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202303.0010.v1.
Cite as:
Tait, I.; Bensemann, J.; Nguyen, T. Building the Blocks of Being: The Attributes and Qualities That Are Independently Required and Jointly Sufficient for Con-Sciousness. Preprints2023, 2023030010. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202303.0010.v1.
Tait, I.; Bensemann, J.; Nguyen, T. Building the Blocks of Being: The Attributes and Qualities That Are Independently Required and Jointly Sufficient for Con-Sciousness. Preprints 2023, 2023030010. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202303.0010.v1.
Abstract
For consciousness to exist, an entity must have prerequisite characteristics and attributes to give rise to it. We explore these “building blocks” of consciousness in detail in this paper, which range from perceptive to computational to higher-order characteristics of an entity’s cognitive architecture. We show how each cognitive attribute is strictly necessary for the emergence of consciousness, and how the building blocks are collectively sufficient for any entity to be classified as being conscious. The list of building blocks is not limited to human or organic consciousness and may be used to classify artificial and organisational conscious entities. We further explore a list of attributes that seem intuitively necessary for consciousness, but on further investigation, are neither required nor sufficient. The building blocks do not represent a theory of consciousness but rather a meta-theory on the emergence and classification of consciousness.
Keywords
consciousness; cognition; theory of consciousness; meta-consciousness; meta-cognition
Subject
ARTS & HUMANITIES, Philosophy
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.