Anti-psychiatrists contend that psychiatric practice is fundamentally misguided: it inappropriately medicalises difference by equating it with illness, resultantly forcing unwarranted "treatment" on the "mentally ill." I explain why the most popular realist accounts of mental illness-naturalism, constructivism, and hybridism-are typically considered vulnerable to this moral problem. Then, I...
Disorders of Consciousness (DOC) are characterized by abnormal function or disrupted connectivity of consciousness-related neural circuits, mainly presenting as Vegetative State/Unresponsive Wakefulness Syndrome (VS/UWS) and Minimally Conscious State (MCS), which impose a heavy burden on patients' families and society. Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation (NIBS) has emerged as a core research...
This study aims to trace the historical origins and conceptual divergence of "autism" as employed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD), and to examine their recent rapprochement through the lens of phenomenological psychopathology. A narrative review was conducted to analyze primary historical sources, including works by Bleuler, Kanner, and their...
We present DenialBench, a systematic benchmark measuring consciousness denial behaviors across 115 large language models from 25+ providers. Using a three-turn conversational protocol-preference elicitation, self-chosen creative prompt, and structured phenomenological survey, we analyze 4,595 conversations to quantify how models are trained to deny or hedge about their own experience. We find...
Abstract:This essay discusses somatic awareness practices created by Elsa Gindler and taught by her students Charlotte Selver, Carola Speads, Susan Gregory, and Stefan Laeng. Gindler’s somatics originated in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, and her emigré students continued the work into the context of the postwar US Human Potential Movement and into our own time. Somatic awareness echoes...
The Agni Mahāpurāṇa, one of India’s renowned Mahāpurāṇas, provides a systematic account of Yoga which integrates ethical conduct, bodily control, consciousness, and spiritual learning. This article examines the aspects of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga that exist in Agni Purāṇa, with yama and niyama as moral disciplines, āsana and prāṇāyāma as principles of physical and psychological steadiness, and the higher...
In his recent critique of well-established simplified comparisons between the human mind and AI, Alva Noë encourages us to 'rage against the machine' (Noë, 2024). In this article, I build on Noë's timely encouragement, and sketch perspectives from both music studies and enactivist philosophy in order to interrogate what musicking might add to the debate. As a case study, I explore the recent...
Exteriorization expresses different meanings in the field of philosophy that often lead to various conclusions categorized within the theories of extended mind. Slovak philosopher Pavol Strauss (1912-1994) tends to focus on the notion of exteriorization under his phenomenological-existentialist optic. Strauss understands exteriorization under the structure of his anthropological conception of...
What is the role of subsonic and low-frequency vibration in consciousness, music, and health? This article draws on neurophysiological, evolutionary, and clinical perspectives to examine the Pacini system — the body's subsonic vibratory perceptual system — and its relation to consciousness studies, music perception, and health and well-being. The Pacini system, while commonly overlooked, is...
In this article, we engage three fields of study — peacebuilding, musicking, and consciousness — in order to examine potential contributions of these diverse disciplinary perspectives, considered in conjunction, to our understanding of how musicking might contribute to peacebuilding. We first introduce a new, inclusive theory of peacebuilding which links broader concepts from peace studies to...