Consciousness research is commonly divided into two main areas: the study of states of consciousness and the study of contents of consciousness. States of consciousness refer to discrete modes of awareness elicited by normal states of the brain, such as those associated with wakefulness and sleep, and by abnormal factors, including brain lesions, pharmacological agents and other external...
This chapter concerns the temporal phenomenology of transcendental meditation experiences. Meditators describe the phenomenology of such experiences as continuous but timeless. I shall suggest and evaluate five different interpretations of this perplexing characterization. Exploring non-ordinary mental states such as those realized by transcendental meditation techniques promises novel insights...
This essay will articulate Zen&s;s understanding of time (and space). Its articulation starts with a description of Zen&s;s standpoint anchored in the practice called “Zazen” (i.e., a seated meditation). This treatment provides the essay with a platform for addressing an issue of how Zen sees things, which will pave a way to investigate Zen&s;s experiential foundation for its understanding of...
This paper links mathematical consciousness science, particularly Integrated Information Theory (IIT), to Immanuel Kant's philosophy. Skeptics of IIT's theoretical foundation often target its fundamental identity between an experience and Φ-structure. My account brings in the Kantian notion that this identity is a constitutive a priori principle and responds to some objections by drawing on...
Once central to countercultural spirituality and mystical exploration, psychedelics have been rebranded in Silicon Valley as tools for optimization, productivity, and cognitive control. This study examines how tech elites and aspirants are reconfiguring psychedelic practice under the influence of TESCREAL—an ideological bundle of Transhumanism, Extropianism, Singularitarianism, Cosmism,...
Abstract Psychedelics have garnered great attention in recent years as treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD) and treatment‐resistant depression because of their ability to alter consciousness and afflicted cognitive processes with lasting effects. We aimed to characterise how psychedelics are currently being investigated to treat substance use disorders (SUDs). Additionally, we aimed...
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is an emerging intervention in psychiatry, for which there is preliminary evidence for effectiveness in eating disorders (EDs). The subjective psychedelic experience is considered an important driver of positive outcomes following PAT; however, conventional study design approaches often overlook many of the nuances inherent to the experience. Consequently,...
This paper deals with the impact of the extended mind thesis on relational egalitarianism: the now-dominant view on (the politically relevant form of) equality within contemporary political philosophy. If proponents of the extended mind thesis are right, I argue, persons have two core interests that arise from their relationships with elements of the external environment: an interest in an...
This dissertation aims to investigate several questions: 1) Are unconscious phenomena mental phenomena?2) What is the nature of unconscious mentation?3) What is the ontology of unconscious mental states?4) Is there unity in the unconscious mind?5) What is the relationship between conscious and unconscious mental processes?6) In what sense are unconscious mental states intentional?After briefly...
ABSTRACTWe use Critical Narrative Analysis (CNA) to examine collected apparitional accounts within the geographic region of Western Georgia in the United States. We discuss the extant local folklore on ghosts in the literature while providing a methodological backdrop. The analysis of the data yields four dominant discourses, which are countered in five salient ways: through (1) the extension...