{"title":"Building blocks for theories of consciousness","authors":"Azenet Lopez , Wanja Wiese","doi":"10.1016/j.concog.2025.103919","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Consciousness science is brimming with theories attempting to explain what consciousness is and how it can be identified in natural and artificial systems. These theories often make different and conflicting claims, evincing that the road to a mature theory of consciousness is still long and convoluted. In this paper, we propose that a promising way forward that at the same time facilitates addressing urgent questions about consciousness is what we call a <em>building block approach</em>. Building blocks are the simpler elements making up a theory, such as key notions or assumptions that contribute to explain important aspects of the phenomenon of interest. A building block approach recommends shifting the focus to these simpler elements of theories of consciousness while minimizing commitment to specific theoretical proposals. Here, we demonstrate how building block approaches can contribute to the assessment, integration and unification of diverse theories in consciousness science, by discussing what roles two potential building blocks, namely, <em>attention</em> and <em>information generation</em>, (should) play in theories of consciousness..</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51358,"journal":{"name":"Consciousness and Cognition","volume":"134 ","pages":"Article 103919"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Consciousness and Cognition","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810025001126","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Consciousness science is brimming with theories attempting to explain what consciousness is and how it can be identified in natural and artificial systems. These theories often make different and conflicting claims, evincing that the road to a mature theory of consciousness is still long and convoluted. In this paper, we propose that a promising way forward that at the same time facilitates addressing urgent questions about consciousness is what we call a building block approach. Building blocks are the simpler elements making up a theory, such as key notions or assumptions that contribute to explain important aspects of the phenomenon of interest. A building block approach recommends shifting the focus to these simpler elements of theories of consciousness while minimizing commitment to specific theoretical proposals. Here, we demonstrate how building block approaches can contribute to the assessment, integration and unification of diverse theories in consciousness science, by discussing what roles two potential building blocks, namely, attention and information generation, (should) play in theories of consciousness..
期刊介绍:
Consciousness and Cognition: An International Journal provides a forum for a natural-science approach to the issues of consciousness, voluntary control, and self. The journal features empirical research (in the form of regular articles and short reports) and theoretical articles. Integrative theoretical and critical literature reviews, and tutorial reviews are also published. The journal aims to be both scientifically rigorous and open to novel contributions.