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The essay explores the consequences of adopting a consciousness-first ontology while maintaining physicalist epistemic standards.

February 2, 2026Open Access

Epistemic Authority: What Ontology Leaves Unresolved

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The essay explores the consequences of adopting a consciousness-first ontology while maintaining physicalist epistemic standards.
Literary analysis of philosophical essays on consciousness and metaphysics.
Critical evaluation of epistemic frameworks and their compatibility with idealist ontology.
Identified instability in the combination of idealist ontology and physicalist epistemology.
Highlighted the need for aligning epistemic standards with ontological assumptions.

Abstract

Abstract: This essay examines what happens when ontological revision is not matched by corresponding revision of epistemic assumptions. Specifically: if consciousness-first metaphysics is adopted, but standards of evidence and epistemic authority remain calibrated for physicalism, the result is an unstable hybrid—idealist ontology operating under physicalist epistemology. Part of the Return to Consciousness research program—18 philosophical essays exploring consciousness-first metaphysics. Full project: https://brunoton.github.io/return-to-consciousness/

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Bruno Tonetto (Thu,) studied this question.

www.synapsesocial.com/papers/6980fe48c1c9540dea810343 — DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18431049

Epistemic Authority: What Ontology Leaves Unresolved

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