This article argues that feminist phenomenology offers a strong account of embodiment and subjectivity. It shows that human experience cannot be fully understood by treating the body as a neutral biological object or the subject as a disembodied consciousness. Instead, people relate to the world through embodied existence formed by gender, social norms, culture, power, history, sexuality, race,...
We report a clinical case illustrating rapid, reversible, and reproducible hemispheric differences in subjective experience and autonomic arousal during lateral visual field viewing. A man in his 40s with longstanding anxiety and depression showed repeatable shifts in affective state, self-appraisal, and appraisal of the clinician when alternately viewing through the right versus left lateral...
A psychological sentence is commonly understood as representing a mental fact. This paper offers an alternative and argues that saying “Someone S is in a mental state M” is saying “There are some circumstances C such that S is in C, and it is rational for anyone in C to behave in a certain way.” To argue for this alternative, the paper appeals to the Sellarsian philosophy of mind but transforms...
This paper critically examines speculative consciousness hypotheses commonly encountered in contemporary social media discourse, particularly those combining metaphysical ontology, systems theory, evolutionary reasoning, information theory, cosmology, artificial intelligence, and philosophy of mind. Using a representative composite framework as an analytic exemplar, the paper evaluates how such...
Ten years ago, we published a position paper in this journal, criticizing reductionist claims of neurobiology related to mental disorders and important theoretical concepts like free will. Our interdisciplinary group of experts highlighted the need for and the challenges of integrating different approaches and system levels in neuroscience. We argued-and still argue-that such an integrative and...
In the field of Dance Anthropology, the concept of 'ecstatic dance' has been used generically to refer to African, Afro-Brazilian, Middle Eastern and Shaman dances. Researchers as Jennings (1995), Baxman (1990), Gore (1995) and Camargo (1996) have begun to employ the concept more specifically, but very little is known about how these dances are induced. As a dance anthropologist, I turned to...
Samâ’– musical listening accompanied by whirling – is one of many practices used in Sufism with the aim of opening the individual’s mind and heart to their greatest potential. Just as with zikr (repeating the Names of God), samâ' is considered a means of releasing spiritual energy, that is, of allowing the portion of divine light which lies dormant in the mystic to awaken, uniting with its...
I will argue that if subjective experience is a prerequisite for mindreading, then Large Language Models and philosophical zombies either have different ways of mindreading or they cannot partake in understanding others. I will explore how this impacts recent debates on Large Language Models (LLMs). At first I will explore the consequences following from the assumption that phenomenal...
The essence and strength of Sufism lies in the renaissance of the human soul. The mystical experience of a Sufi ennobles his mind and elevates his spirit to an extent where he reaches an intimate and comprehensive understanding of the Truth and the Universe. This study explores the attainment of that understanding through contemplation and remembrance, or more precisely, reflection (tafakkur)...
Yoga is a body-mind based approach that combines physical postures, controlled breathing techniques, and meditation practices. With the increasing interest in complementary and integrative health practices in recent years, yoga stands out as a supportive intervention method in psychological well-being and rehabilitation processes. Literature findings indicate that yoga practices can contribute...