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The
seminar is held in hybrid
format, in person (Múzeum
krt. 4/i Room 224) and
online at the following
link:
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November (Friday) 4:15
PM Room 224 + ONLINE
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Gergő
Gila
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Institute of Philosophy,
Eötvös Loránd University,
Budapest
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| An
approach to the problem of
selfless consciousness based
on Georg Northoff’s
temporo-spatial theory of
consciousness
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In recent
psychedelic philosophy, the
problem of phenomenological
ego-dissolution during the
psychedelic experience raised the
question whether conscious states
lacking self-consciousness are
possible, thus falsifying the
Self-Awareness Principle:
“Necessarily, whenever one is in a
conscious state, one is minimally
self-aware.” Several solutions
have been proposed, along the
lines of distinguishing between
minimal and narrative self and
their neural correlates. Following
Letheby’s proposal I localize the
neural correlates of the minimal
and narrative self in the Salience
Network and the Default Mode
Network, respectively. However,
Letheby’s solution argues that
because of the nature of the self
as a construct created by
predictive processing, we must
take an anti-realist stance
against the self.
I propose an approach that
purportedly nuances and dissolves
the problem by taking Georg
Northoff’s notion of
pre-phenomenal self, which can
persist through the phenomenal
experience of the dissolution of
minimal and narrative forms of
self. Northoff’s pre-phenomenal
self shifts the focus from the
cognitive, social and affective
neural correlates of the different
forms of self, instead
concentrating on the topographic
and dynamic, that is spatial and
temporal structure of the
brain-mind relation. I agree with
Northoff that by the temporal
structure of the brain that is
characterized by scale-free,
long-range temporal correlations
and embedded by a neuro-ecological
connection to the surrounding
physical environment, we arrive at
a more basic level of
pre-phenomenal self. My conclusion
will be that this form of self
while undergoing radical changes
in its structure, does persist
through the psychedelic
experience, even while minimal and
narrative self dissolves. This
approach allows us to take a
realist approach to one form of
self, which can even survive
psychedelic ego-dissolution.
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