Abstract In this paper, I discuss some philosophical problems connected with the notion of regarding the aggregates (khandha) as self in the Nikāyas. In particular, I focus on the attitude represented by the formula “I am this” (esohamasmi) which may be labeled as that of identifying with the aggregates. In the first part of the paper, I point out and analyze certain similes contained in the...
Neurophenomenology maintains that the intelligent behavior we recognize in living beings is based on the fact that they are intentionally directed toward and are embodied and embedded in a world, which they actively constitute. This is the way in which it understands the intentionality of the mind and its meaning-making essence. Meaning-making, however, presupposes organization and synthesis of...
The phenomenon of aesthetic chills—shivers and goosebumps associated with either rewarding or threatening stimuli—offers a unique window into the brain basis of conscious reward due to their universal nature and simultaneous subjective and physical counterparts. Elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying aesthetic chills can reveal fundamental insights about emotion, consciousness, and the...
This article aims to analyze how Western researchers can be influenced by their epistemic and ethical foundations, which are also expressed through a culturally shared idea of therapy, and how this influence can significantly hinder the understanding of a different cultural reality and its resources in terms of knowledge and practices. While examining a collection of research cases in the field...
Revista ContemporâneaSeptember 5, 2023Catarina Rodrigues Damasceno Murucci, Rita de Cássia Ramos Queiroz de Freitas, Grazielly Ribeiro Viana et al.
Ayahuasca is a tea used in original indigenous rituals with the aim of expanding the mind and consciousness. Some studies have pointed to Ayahuasca as a potent antidepressant with reduced side effects when compared to other conventional synthetic allopathic treatments. Over the years, tea has come to be known by both the popular community and the scientific community. The species used are...
This article suggests that themes in Williams’ (2023) analysis of attention and contemplation resonate powerfully with current thinking in cognitive science. By changing how we pay attention, we can change the shape, or underlying configuration, of the heart‐mind. This is the core process in mindfulness and contemplation. The Interacting Cognitive Subsystems (ICS) analysis suggests this...
In recent decades, Functionalism has become a standard approach towards philosophy of mind and cognitive science, Functionalism is inspired by computer science and against prior theories about mind. Functionalism takes mind as a processor and body as a provider of raw data for this processor. Mind with the help of mental algorithms translates perceptional data to symbolic representations as...
Recent advancements in computational approaches and neuroimaging techniques have refined our understanding of the precuneus. While previously believed to be largely a visual processing region, the importance of the precuneus in complex cognitive functions has been previously less familiar due to a lack of focal lesions in this deeply seated region, but also a poor understanding of its true...
This chapter considers how reading Stevens’s poetry can offer sophisticated accounts of consciousness that make up for shortfalls in contemporary philosophy of mind. The chapter begins by sketching out trends in this area of theory, especially around the influential work of David Chalmers, and the themes of experience, participation, and consciousness of qualitative relations. The chapter then...
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2021. Pp. xv + 426. Paper $32.50. “In the MRI I experienced the invisible tendrils of discourse…a particularly powerful construction of the social. For in the MRI I became aware of my paranoia, mindful of how theories of information, feedback, and self-organization…frame the social as comprised of discrete individuals in a giant communication machine” (20)....