What does it mean to enrich the definition of consciousness in consciousness research using (enriched) category theory?

Abstract

In our recent essay [Tsuchiya, N. & Saigo, H. (2019). Understanding consciousness through category theory, Cognitive Studies: Bulletin of the Japanese Cognitive Science Society, 26, 462–477], we provided a general introduction of category theory to consciousness researchers. Further, we also provided our tentative theoretical sketches on our latest ideas on how to apply tools in category theory into consciousness research. In particular, we discussed how we can propose categories of level of consciousness and categories of contents of consciousness. We also speculated what (if any) these efforts will bring into consciousness research. In this short piece, we will address several comments we received on our essay in the same issue from six experts, providing some clarification on three issues: 1) significance of our proposal of a novel viewpoint to enrich what it means to define consciousness, 2) possibility of category theoretical interpretation of consciousness,and 3) understanding of consciousness through the enriched category theoretical framework.