Exploring the role of structuralist methodology in the neuroscience of consciousness: a defense and analysis.
Neurosci Conscious May 17, 2023 Lukas Kob 15 citations
Structuralist theories in consciousness science focus on the structural properties of phenomenal experience and seek to identify their neural encoding via similarities between quality spaces and neural state spaces. This paper argues that structuralism can be adopted as a methodological approach partly independent of philosophical assumptions about the nature of consciousness. The author situates methodological structuralism within questions of mental representation, psychophysical measurement, holism, and functional relevance of neural processes, and analyzes its relationship to the distinction between conscious and unconscious states. The goal is to make structuralist methodology more accessible to a broader scientific and philosophical audience.