Abstract: This book offers an integrated account of mind and consciousness at the intersection of contemporary philosophy and cognitive science. It argues that no single discipline—whether analytic metaphysics, phenomenology, neuroscience, or computational modelling—can, in isolation, provide a sufficiently rich explanation of conscious experience. Instead, the chapters develop a multi-level...
Following an account of signaling games, one can show how meaning emerges and is preserved on the basis of the interactions between individuals and their environments. It is here argued that, as all concepts, a concept of consciousness is formed from a set of signaling games and is assigned a sense, from which its extensional reference can be postulated. It will be helpful to understand the...
Ideas of PossessionOctober 29, 2024Ulrike Steinert, Jonathan (Jonny) Russell
Abstract This contribution adds to anthropological and historical studies on spirit possession with textual sources from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, asking to what extent concepts of possession can be grasped in these two cultures and whether these concepts resemble each other in any systematic way. The discussion focuses on exemplary cases of “negative” possession encountered in healing...
Abstract A comparativist approach in the psychoanalytic study of religion illuminates hermeneutic pathways to unconscious subjective experience. This approach contributes to recognizing and theorizing the culturally situated modalities of human suffering and the ambivalent nature of desire. A psychoanalytic reading of ethnographic case studies examines these themes as they appear through...
The Buddhist Vipassana technique of Kayanupassana Satipatthana is used to develop samadhi (concentration) and sati (awareness) in the practices of Thai classical music (dontri Thai) teachers working in a Thai primary school and the specialist music school in a Thai university. While previous studies have explored the use of mediation as a means of alleviating stress or spiritual progress, the...
The experience of inner light and ecstasy is widely accepted as a universal mystical experience, regardless of cultural or religious context. While one can read first-hand accounts in the historical record, the direct experience of light remains elusive for most people. This study analyzes a series of dream-based experiences of light provided by a single subject. In our analysis of 19 dreams,...
Contemplative technologies in the form of Buddhist practices that challenge the sense of self and thereby enhance the experience of interrelationality are viable strategies for addressing existential concerns such as the environmental crisis. Much of the existing research on Buddhism and ecology neglects to measure environmentally sustainable behavior or engage with empirical research....
This study explores the profound questions surrounding the pursuit of Nirvana in Buddhism, examining whether it arises from the cycle of rebirth, present suffering, or future pain as depicted in early Buddhist scriptures. It also investigates the potential convergence of Buddhism with existentialism, a philosophy emphasizing individual experience, freedom, responsibility, and life’s inherent...
The B-Man Stra/Tac model is new and comprehensive and intended to replace previous theories of consciousness and the mind. I am confident it is correct, based on the model’s coherence and its explanation of so much of human behaviour. David Chalmers’ idea of the Hard Problem of Consciousness can be considered on two levels, the functional level, why are we conscious, why do we have conscious...
Abstract According to Idealism, every fundamental entity is conscious, and moreover every fundamental property is a phenomenal property. The goal of this chapter is to defend “Modal Idealism,” which is the thesis that Idealism is metaphysically necessary. In particular, I give four different arguments for Modal Idealism. First, I argue that, if at least some possible fundamental properties are...