Necessary first-person axioms of neuroconsciousness

Abstract

A new approach that identifies necessary design requirements for neural machinery that one could claim is conscious is presented. Usually such designs stem from a third-person inference of suitable mechanisms which are thought to underpin conscious behaviour. The novelty here comes from using the first person (introspection) to identify a set of necessary axiomatic principles that the neuro-machinery of an agent must deliver and turn these into architectural design requirements for a conscious system. It also leads to the major conclusion that a full description of the neural mechanisms is also a full description of what it is to be conscious.