Just in Time—Dreamless Sleep Experience as Pure Subjective Temporality
Monash University Research Portal January 1, 2015 Jennifer Windt 30 citations
The author proposes extending Evan Thompson's argument for dreamless sleep experience. An analogy is drawn between Indian philosophical debates about reports of peaceful sleep and scientific dream research debates about the trustworthiness of dream reports, leading to the conclusion that the default view of consciousness disappearing in dreamless sleep is inconsistent with methodological assumptions of scientific dream research. A conceptual model is sketched in which dreamless sleep experience involves pure subjective temporality—phenomenal now and sense of duration without further intentional content—making it a candidate for minimal phenomenal experience. Three empirical examples are discussed: minimal lucid dreams, white dreams, and sleep-state misperception in subjective insomnia.