Abstract

This paper mathematically identifies the minimal structural conditions for subjectivity as Irreversible Exclusive State Commitment (IESC). Whereas state-centric theories—Integrated Information Theory (IIT; Tononi), Global Workspace / Global Neuronal Workspace (GWT/GNW; Baars; Dehaene), Higher-Order Thought theory (HOT; Rosenthal), Predictive Processing / Active Inference (Friston), and Recurrent Processing Theory (RPT; Lamme)—characterize consciousness in terms of integrated, broadcast, higher-order, predictive, or recurrent states, the present framework defines subjectivity as an event: an exclusive commitment that irreversibly prunes internal possibilities. Formally, a system must possess (i) single-line irreversible history, (ii) a multi-peaked action structure (|A(t)| ≥ 2) with viability-weighted competition, and (iii) a threshold-based exclusive resolution. IESC occurs at time t iff one and only one candidate crosses threshold and becomes realized, and the internal reachable set contracts such that Reach(t+1) ⊂ Reach(t) with no internal causal path that reconstructs eliminated alternatives. Irreversibility here is not thermodynamic entropy increase but internal unreconstructability under causal closure. IESC-Irreversible-Commitment-Co… This event-based identification yields structural predictions for neuroscience and behavior: whenever subjectivity is present, competitive inhibitory gating, threshold collapse, and post-decision loss of alternative internal reachability should be detectable. The framework thereby relocates the qualia problem and provides a necessary structural criterion relevant to artificial consciousness.