The Organism-Level Condition for Consciousness: Persistent Organismic Existence as a Necessary Background for Subjective Experience
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) July 5, 2026 Israel Don
Consciousness science has focused on neural and computational mechanisms, but virtually every serious biological candidate for consciousness—mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, cephalopods, decapod crustaceans, and insects—is a bounded, metabolizing, self-maintaining organism that must continuously preserve its own existence. Current artificial systems, by contrast, have externally arranged goals, energy supply, and repair. This article proposes the Organism-Level Condition for Consciousness: persistent organismic existence may be a necessary background condition for subjective experience. It does not claim all organisms are conscious or that artificial consciousness is impossible, but that information processing becomes consciousness-relevant only when embedded in a system that must maintain its boundary, regulate internal conditions, and adapt to continue existing. The article maps biological candidates, evaluates major frameworks, and identifies predictions about organismic state-dependence and cross-species comparison.