Field-Based Psychology: Registers of Inquiry in Consciousness Studies

This concept note presents a provisional register-based framework for field-based psychology within consciousness studies. It begins from the observation that discussions of mind and consciousness often become confused when different kinds of claim are collapsed into one another. In particular, phenomenological description, mechanistic explanation, ontological commitment, epistemic justification, axiological orientation, practical application, relational context, and systemic context are often treated as though they were interchangeable. The note proposes that these are better understood as related but non-equivalent registers of inquiry, each with its own role, limits, and standards of assessment. Its aim is…