Alan Watts and Neurophenomenology
S. Gordon
The Relevance of Alan Watts in Contemporary Culture October 2, 2015 DOI: 10.1080/03060497.2016.1142263 (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 Alan Watts and Francisco Varela share phenomenologically grounded radical empiricisms, converging on embodied cognition and the specious present, and situates Watts within Humanistic Psychology alongside Varela's neurophenomenological research agenda. |
Abstract
Alan Watts (1915–1973) was a religious philosopher and interpreter of Zen Buddhism and Indian and Chinese philosophy to the West. Francisco Varela (1946–2001) was a biologist, a neuroscientist, and practitioner-scholar of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. Watts and Varela share common interest in Buddhist and phenomenological approaches to human experience. In this article, I explore intersections of Watts and Varela regarding their phenomenologically grounded radical empiricisms, particularly: (1) embodied cognition; and (2) the specious present. This exploration is prefaced by establishing Watts’ phenomenological place in Humanistic Psychology, and delineating Varela's neurophenomenological research agenda.
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