From Introspection to Micro-Phenomenology
Routledge eBooks May 22, 2026 DOI: 10.4324/9781003393269-25 (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 micro-phenomenology enables rigorous description of unrecognized dimensions of lived experience and detection of generic experiential structures. Proposes a performative view of the reliability of such descriptions, based on assessing the acts that enable awareness, and contends that becoming aware induces a "subtilization" of structures usually deemed essential, including the inner/outer divide, so that "introspection" is an inappropriate label. |
Abstract
This chapter aims at presenting micro-phenomenology, a concrete “introspective” method enabling us to become aware of usually unrecognized dimensions of our lived experience, to describe them with rigor and precision, and to detect possible generic experiential structures. After a description of its origins, the chapter presents the devices used by the method to elicit the process of becoming aware of one&s;s experience by releasing the absorption into its object. Then, it draws the epistemological implications of this process and its ontological implications. On the epistemological side, it advocates a performative view of the reliability of micro-phenomenological descriptions, based on the assessment of the acts that enable one to become aware. On the ontological level, the chapter shows that the process of becoming aware, by releasing the absorption into the object of experience, induces a “subtilization” of the structures we usually consider as essential to our experience, in particular the separation between an “inner” and an “outer” world, which makes the term “introspection” inappropriate to describe this process.
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 |