In a recent taxonomy of different philosophies of mind, Robert Lawrence Kuhn classified Rudolf Steiner's view as a mind-body dualism. We argue that this classification is incorrect. Rather, Steiner's view is trinitarian and represents a unification of monism and dualism. Hence, the trinitarian conception of the human being in Steiner not only challenges Kuhn's taxonomic placement of Steiner's...
Abstract Objectives Practitioners in contemplative traditions commonly report experiencing an awareness that is distinct from sensory objects, thoughts, and emotions (“awareness itself”). They also report experiences of a void or underlying silence that is closely associated with this awareness. Subjects who carry out the Headless Way exercises frequently report an experience of emptiness or...
There are two basic aspects of attentional control. The ability to direct attention toward different objects is typically experienced as a fundamental indicator of attentional freedom. One can control what one attends to and directing attention is a relatively simple task. In contrast, sustaining attention on a chosen object proves to be difficult as mind-wandering seems to be inevitable. Does...
This paper seeks to evaluate experiential facets of thinking action using first-person phenomenological methods. We begin our considerations using a simple mathematical proof as a case study-and also employ phenomenological contrasts between different types of thinking. They reveal that thinking actions produce performative insights rather than dispositional or remembered knowledge. This...
This study aims to discuss the possibility of becoming conscious of certain aspects of one's own existence through creative activity.The discussion involves Piagetian constructivism and Steiner's ideas about human development and is justified by the contribution of creative activity to the development of autonomy, according to Piaget, and to the development of an ethical individuality,...
Micro-phenomenology is a method that generates rich and reliable reports of singular experiences in their pre-reflective dimension. Usually it is employed using a second-person interviewer. In this study we attempted to train naïve subjects in using self-inquiry version of the method. 13 subjects met twice over the course of one week, investigating their experiences of headaches, looking...
Micro-phenomenology is a method for improving first-person reports of experience. Usually, micro-phenomenology is conducted using a second-person interviewer who guides someone investigating an experience. This has the advantage that the interviews can be done with untrained subjects. However, it is possible to perform micro-phenomenological self-inquiry, a form of self-interview technique,...
Abstract Fostering our understanding of how humans behave, feel and think is a fundamental goal of psychological research. Widely used methods in psychological research are self-report and behavioral measures which require an experimenter to collect data from another person. By comparison, first-person measures that assess more subtle facets of subjective experiences, are less widely used....
The reliability of introspective or first‐person reports has often been questioned. Micro‐phenomenology is a method that has been devised to increase the reliability of such reports. One way of showing that the method actually increases reliability is to test it in experiments where reporting can be checked by an external observer. Though such approaches are highly valuable, the problem remains...
In view of the unresolved mind–brain problem, we examine a number of prototypical research attitudes regarding the question, how the mental and the neuronal realms are related to each other, both functionally and ontologically. By discussing neurophilosophical and neuropsychological positions, the mind–brain problem can be recast in terms of a structural relation between methodological and...
The manifestation of psychology as an academic discipline more than a 100 years ago was accompanied by a paradigm shift in our understanding of psychological phenomena-with both its light and shadow sides. On the one hand, this development allowed for a rigorous and experimentation-based approach to psychological phenomena; on the other, it led to an alienation from the experiential-or...
Research has increasingly focussed on the benefits of meditation in everyday life and performance. Mindfulness in particular improves attention, working memory capacity, and reading comprehension. Given its emphasis on moment-to-moment awareness, we hypothesised that mindfulness meditation would alter time perception. Using a within-subjects design, participants carried out a temporal bisection...
Abstract There is ongoing research on the effect of meditation in the context of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and possible effects are the subject of controversial debate. The studies predominantly provide evidence of a beneficial effect, but possible risk factors also appear to be associated with meditation interventions. The impact of meditation on the process of psychotherapeutic...