Zenith Grant Awardee

Ian Durham

Saint Anselm College

Co-Investigators

Johannes Kleiner, Leibniz University of Hanover; Yakov Kremnitzer, University of Oxford; Jonathan Mason, University of Oxford

Project Title

Models of Consciousness: A Conference Series on Formal Approaches to the Mind-Matter Relation

Project Summary

"Consciousness and its place in nature have collectively been one of the great mysteries of humanity and have served as the focus of philosophical and religious investigations for almost two millennia. The subject has generated sustained interest among mathematicians, physicists, and other scholars who aim to translate the results of previous investigations into formal-mathematical models. This interest has been fueled by the observation that many relevant questions, e.g. about the connection between fundamental physics and consciousness, are not amenable to less formal analysis. To date, these researchers have mostly pursued this work in isolation and outside of the academic mainstream. In this proposal, we are aiming to change that. The core of the project is th us the formation of a conference series dedicated to formal models of consciousness with the aim of fostering collaboration and the exchange of ideas between these researchers. In addition, this project's long-term goal is to support the emergence of a research area, as part of the mathematics and physics communities, focused on the mind-matter relation and consciousness, making the expertise of these disciplines available to the global search for a scientific understanding of consciousness. "

Technical Abstract

Consciousness and its place in nature have collectively been one of the great mysteries of humanity and have served as the focus of philosophical and religious investigations for almost two millennia. The subject has generated sustained interest among math ematicians, physicists, and others who aim to translate the results of previous investigations into formal-mathematical models. This interest has been fueled by the observation that many relevant questions, e.g. about the connection between fundamental physics and consciousness, are not amenable to less formal analysis. To date, these researchers have mostly pursued this work in isolation and outside of the academic mainstream. In this proposal, we aim to change that. The core of the project is the formation of a conference series dedicated to formal models of consciousness with the aim of fostering collaboration and the exchange of ideas between these researchers. An inaugural conference take place at the University of Oxford in September 2019. This project's long-term goal is to support the emergence of a research area, as part of the mathematics and physics communities, focused on the mind-matter relation and consciousness, making the expertise of these disciplines available to t he global search for a scientific understanding of consciousness.