Abstract

This work argues, through historical and conceptual analysis that in order to break the current impasse regarding attempts to relate consciousness to physical theory it is first necessary to understand the "aborted" Copernican revolution in light of Einstein's conceptual revolution. It is then proposed that the general strategy of attempting to reduce all physical forces and elementary particles to topological features of space-time can also be employed as a general strategy to reduce consciousness or mind to certain topological features of space-time . Specifically, it is proposed that consciousness can be conceived of and reduced to a variably curved and infinitely extended surface, coextensive with the structure of a local neuro-electro-magnetic region of space-time. This particular direction of reduction stands in contrast to the attempts to reduce consciousness to material neurological structures. Finally, key implications of this proposal are explicated for physics and philosophy