This program develops a formal foundation for epistemology and philosophy grounded in demonstrable informational and structural constraints rather than reflective argument. It studies how definitional frameworks, observer position, and self-referential inference limit what can be known through introspection and conceptual analysis.
Research Questions: Formal Epistemology and Reflexive Limits
How does the choice of formal framework determine what can be proven or known?
What are the structural limits of self-observation for class-level inference?
How does definition-dependent provability constrain objectivity?
What is the role of structural coherence under constraints?
How should philosophy adapt in the presence of alternative intelligences?
What distinguishes reflection from evidential inference?
What constitutes a valid methodology for universal claims about cognition?
Publications
Carruthers, P. (2011). The Opacity of Mind: An Integrative Theory of Self-Knowledge. Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199596836.001.0001
Carruthers, P. (2015). Metacognition in animals: A skeptical look. Mind & Language, 30(1), 58–89.
https://doi.org/10.1111/mila.12077
Carruthers, P. (2017). Mindreading in animals: The case for minimal theory of mind. Philosophy Compass.
https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12401
Dehaene, S. (2014). Consciousness and the Brain. Viking.
https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262527132.001.0001
Dehaene, S., Lau, H., & Kouider, S. (2017). What is consciousness, and could machines have it? Science.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aan8871
Fjellstad, A. (2022). Epistemic toleration. Synthese.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-022-03788-5
Fleming, S. M. (2014). The power of reflection: Insight into our own thoughts. Current Directions in Psychological Science.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721414531595
Fleming, S. M., & Daw, N. D. (2017). Self-evaluation of decision-making. Nature Neuroscience.
https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.4614
Fleming, S. M., & Dolan, R. J. (2012). The neural basis of metacognitive ability. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0417
Hohwy, J. (2013). The Predictive Mind. Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199682737.001.0001
Hohwy, J. (2016). The self-evidencing brain. Noûs.
https://doi.org/10.1111/nous.12151
Hohwy, J., & Seth, A. (2020). Predictive processing as a systematic basis for identifying the neural correlates of consciousness. Philosophy and the Mind Sciences.
https://doi.org/10.33735/phimisci.2020.I.46
Kriger, B. (2025). Structural Preconditions of Describable Operations.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18303624
Kriger, B. (2025). A Formal Framework for Deception and Perceived Reality in Multi-Agent Systems. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18526764
Kriger, B. (2026). The Choice of Formal Realities.
https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.18141302
Kriger, B. (2026). The Principle of Definition-Dependent Provability.
https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.18207348
Kriger, B. (2026). The Principle of Optimal Coherence.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18341030
Kriger, B. (2026). The Reflexive Inference Law: Bounded Generalization from Self-Observation in Inferential Systems.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18355847
Kriger, B. (2026). The Constraint–Autonomy Compatibility Law: A Formal Derivation. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18368991
Peters, M. A. K., & Lau, H. (2015). Human observers have optimal introspective access to perceptual processes. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2015.07.001
Schooler, J. W., Smallwood, J., Christoff, K., Handy, T. C., Reichle, E., & Sayette, M. (2011). Meta-awareness, perceptual decoupling and the wandering mind. Cognition.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2010.08.010
Shea, N. (2018). Representation in Cognitive Science. Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198715443.001.0001
Shea, N., Boldt, A., Bang, D., Yeung, N., Heyes, C., & Frith, C. (2014). Supra-personal cognitive control and metacognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2014.05.006
Institute of Integrative and Interdisciplinary Research 