Consciousness as an Ontological Dimension: Toward an Expanded Framework for Scientific Explanation

Abstract This paper argues that consciousness cannot be fully explained within the current representational framework of science and instead meets necessary criteria for recognition as a novel ontological dimension. Drawing on parallels from the historical elevation of concepts such as spacetime, fields, and thermodynamic quantities, I propose that consciousness exhibits irreducible causal efficacy, substrate independence, and law-like constraints that cannot be eliminated without explanatory loss. I develop a formal outline of this position, critically engage with competing representational accounts, and identify theoretical and empirical conditions that would substantiate the ontological interpretation.