The symphony of consciousness and the minimal experience of self
Philosophy and the Mind Sciences February 11, 2026 Jeffrey Yoshimi, Jason Ford
The authors propose a structuralist account of conscious experience by examining the parts that compose the minimal sense of self. Using a variational method, they argue that the feeling of agency, the feeling of privacy, and the feeling of “me-ness” are separable components that can be dissociated in various combinations, as supported by empirical and clinical cases. Removing or altering any of these components changes the whole experience in a holistic but determinate way, much like altering an instrument in a symphony alters the overall sound.