Prakāśa. A few reflections on the Advaitic understanding of consciousness as presence and its relevance for philosophy of mind
Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences August 14, 2020 DOI: 10.1007/s11097-020-09690-2 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Citations | 11 |
| Key points | Argues that conceiving of consciousness as an object (a quale) allows materialists to reduce the difference between consciousness and physical features to a merely epistemological matter, but this move results in circularity or infinite regress regarding consciousness as manifestation itself. |
Abstract
For Advaita Vedānta, consciousness is to be distinguished from all contents of consciousness that might be introspectively detectable: It is precisely consciousness of whatever contents it is conscious of and not itself one of these contents. Its only nature is, Advaita holds, prakāśa (manifestation); in itself it is devoid of any content or structure and can never become an object. This paper elaborates on this kind of understanding of consciousness in order to next explain why it might be fruitful for developing a clear understanding of the nature of the so-called problem of consciousness. Today’s philosophy of mind tends to conceive of consciousness in terms of qualia, thereby taking it as a special kind of (introspectively accessible) object. This renders the antimaterialist claim of the distinctness of consciousness from all physical (publicly accessible) features vulnerable to the materialist reply that the difference in question might be a merely epistemological matter, i.e., a matter of different modes of givenness without difference in what is thus given. This move, however – this paper argues –, is impossible without resulting in circularity or infinite regress with regard to consciousness in the sense of givenness (manifestation) itself.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 10
- Implicit-explicit gradient of nondual awareness or consciousness as such. Neuroscience of Consciousness October 8, 2021
- Reflexivity gradient-Consciousness knowing itself. Frontiers in Psychology 2024
- Simultaneity of consciousness with physical reality: the key that unlocks the mind-matter problem. Frontiers in Psychology September 28, 2023
- Implicit-explicit gradient of nondual awareness or consciousness as such
- Śaṅkara’s philosophy of dreaming: Constructing an unreal world Asian Philosophy September 12, 2022
and 5 more in the library