THE WEIGHT OF TIME: HOW BIOLOGICAL IRREVERSIBILITY REFRAMES THE "HARD PROBLEM" OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Abstract
This working paper proposes a reformulation of the hard problem of consciousness by introducing biological irreversibility as a central explanatory constraint. It argues that the persistence of the hard problem results from treating time as an external parameter rather than as an internal biological restriction. From this perspective, conscious experience is understood as the functional mode through which temporal constraint becomes operative within living systems, dissolving the philosophical core of the hard problem while clarifying its empirical dimension.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Philosophy and Theoretical Science
Philosophy and History of Science
Embodied and Extended Cognition
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Publication date
- 20 January 2026
- Language
- EN
- Document type
- Preprint