Remembering as a research tool for selfless consciousness studies
I-Jan Wang
Asian Journal of Philosophy January 15, 2026 DOI: 10.1007/s44204-025-00369-6 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Consciousness Competence human resources False memory Metamemory Memoria Epistemology Cognitive science Cognition Cognitive psychology |
| Key points | Argues that memory is an unreliable tool for identifying selfless states, introducing three epistemic challenges: the memory challenge, the zero-inflation challenge, and the measurement challenge. |
Abstract
Abstract Consciousness studies have relied on the subject’s remembering capacity as the primary tool for identifying and measuring selfless states, i.e., conscious states without self-consciousness. This paper critically examines whether memory can serve such a role. After outlining the requirements that remembering must meet when deployed in studies of selfless consciousness, I evaluate its competence accordingly. On this basis, I argue for three epistemic challenges to the use of remembering in the study of selfless states: one corresponds to the well-discussed memory challenge of selfless report in the literature, while the other two—the zero-inflation challenge and the measurement challenge—are newly introduced. Specifically, the memory challenge concerns avoiding false negatives—selfless states misclassified as self-conscious. The zero-inflation challenge concerns avoiding false positives—self-conscious states misclassified as selfless. And the measurement challenge concerns reliably capturing the non-self-related aspects of experience within selfless states.
Comparable studies
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| 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
Cites 16
- A Deep-Dream Virtual Reality Platform for Studying Altered Perceptual Phenomenology Scientific Reports November 16, 2017
- Why are dreams interesting for philosophers? The example of minimal phenomenal selfhood, plus an agenda for future research1 Frontiers in Psychology 2013
- The varieties of selflessness Philosophy and the Mind Sciences March 24, 2020
- Nothingness Is All There Is: An Exploration of Objectless Awareness During Sleep Frontiers in Psychology June 10, 2022
- Awareness in the void: a micro-phenomenological exploration of conscious dreamless sleep Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences August 3, 2021
and 11 more in the library