The Philosophy of Mind-Wandering
Zachary C. Irving, Evan Thompson
Oxford Handbooks Online April 5, 2018 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190464745.013.19 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Argues that defining mind-wandering as "unguided thinking" improves on standard psychological definitions by being conceptually and phenomenologically precise and empirically operationalizable. |
Abstract
This chapter provides an introduction to the philosophy of mind-wandering. It begins with a philosophical critique of the standard psychological definitions of mind-wandering as task-unrelated thought or stimulus-independent thought. Although these definitions have helped bring mind-wandering research onto center stage in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, they have substantial limitations. They do not account for the dynamics of mind-wandering, task-unrelated thought that does not qualify as mind-wandering, or the ways in which mind-wandering can be task-related. The chapter reviews philosophical accounts that improve upon the current psychological definitions, in particular an account of mind-wandering as “unguided thinking.” It critically assesses the view that mind-wandering can be defined as thought lacking meta-awareness and cognitive agency, as well as the view that mind-wandering is disunified thinking. The definition of mind-wandering as unguided thinking not only is conceptually and phenomenologically precise, but also can be operationalized in a principled way for empirical research.
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
Cited by 4
- Prefrontal contributions to the stability and variability of thought and conscious experience Neuropsychopharmacology September 20, 2021
- Kinesthesia and Temporal Experience: On the 'Knitting and Unknitting' Process of Bodily Subjectivity in Schizophrenia. Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) November 7, 2022
- Epistemic phenomenology in psychedelic experience Synthese November 5, 2025
- Somatics and phenomenological psychopathology: a mental health proposal. Theoretical medicine and bioethics October 2023