This repository houses the Theories of Consciousness Ontology (TCO), which employs the Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) as a higher-order ontology. TCO adheres as closely as possible to the best practices in ontology development as outlined by the OBO Foundry.
The primary focus of TCO is to define and represent entities and relationships in theories that explain consciousness. These theories range from philosophical, neuroscientific, and psychological perspectives. By defining classes such as dualism, intentionality, panpsychism, language of thought, qualia, neural correlates of consciousness, and more, TCO aims to help philosophers, neuroscientists, cognitive scientists, and others working on the problem of consciousness communicate more effectively. It also aims to assist those working on consciousness in better annotating, integrating, and analyzing data produced by these theories.
The main taxonomical guide for TCO comes from: Kuhn RL. A landscape of consciousness: Toward a taxonomy of explanations and implications. Prog Biophys Mol Biol. 2024 Aug;190:28-169. doi: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2023.12.003. Epub 2024 Jan 26. PMID: 38281544.