A structural approach to consciousness models qualia—the qualities of experience—by examining either the internal organization of parts within an experience or the external relations between experiences. Integrating these two perspectives is a key step toward understanding phenomenally unified global experience. This paper describes both types of structural models and their category-theoretic formalizations, then proposes a sheaf-theoretic framework that maps mereological parts of experience to empirical measures of their qualia. Applying the framework to visual space demonstrates a formal description of experience's structure and conditions for phenomenal unity. The approach supports an empirical research program linking local and global phenomenal qualities.
Qualia—the subjective qualities of experience—can be modeled either by analyzing the internal organization of parts within a single experience or by examining relations between different experiences. A key challenge is combining these two perspectives into a unified account of global conscious experience. This paper describes both types of structural models and their category-theoretic formalizations, then proposes a sheaf-theoretic framework that links mereological parts of experience to empirical measures of their qualia. An application to visual space demonstrates how this framework formally describes the structure of experience and conditions for phenomenal unity. The approach supports empirical research on the relationship between local and global phenomenal qualities and outlines future work toward a structural characterization of global phenomenal consciousness.