From Neural Correlates to Dream Ontology: Veridical Dream Reports, Islamic Metaphysics, and the Boundaries of Reductive Physicalist Explanation
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) August 30, 2026 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22178893 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that reductive physicalist accounts of dreaming are insufficient and proposes that concepts from Islamic metaphysics, particularly Avicenna's doctrine of the soul, Al-Ghazālī's "minor death," and Mulla Ṣadrā's substantial motion, offer a coherent alternative framework for understanding dream cognition and temporal non-locality. |
Abstract
This paper presents a theoretical-philosophical inquiry into the ontological status of dream consciousness. Addressing the explanatory gap between neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) and phenomenal experience, it critiques reductive physicalist accounts of dreaming. By utilizing veridical dream reports as limit-case thought experiments and adopting a stratified approach to empirical data, the paper introduces selected concepts from Islamic metaphysics specifically Avicenna’s doctrine of the soul (al-nafs), Al-Ghazālī’s "minor death" (al-wafāt al-ṣughrā), and Mulla Ṣadrā’s substantial motion (al-ḥarakat al-jawhariyya) as a coherent, hypothesis-generating alternative framework for understanding dream cognition and temporal non-locality.