Johannes Kleiner - A structural turn in consciousness studies

A number of publications and recent activities in various different fields point to what could be early signs of a structural turn in consciousness studies, where verbal descriptions or simple formalisations of conscious experiences are replaced by structural tools, most notably mathematical spaces. My goal in this talk is to offer three comments which I think are necessary to avoid misunderstandings in these developments. These comments concern the relation between structural and structuralist agendas, overlooked assumptions in regards to isomorphisms and the question of what structure to consider on the side of consciousness in the first place. I will also explain what in my opinion is the great promise of a structuralist methodology and how it might impact consciousness science at large.