【學術出版】林映彤_Memory and retrospective reports of totally selfless states of consciousness

Memory and retrospective reports of totally selfless states of consciousness
林映彤

本所林映彤(Ying-Tung Lin)教授發表的文章,收錄於 Acta Scientiarum Human and Social Sciences。恭喜林老師!以下為本文摘要,全文請點擊連結

摘要

The debate about the necessary involvement of any form of self-consciousness in conscious experience has recently shifted its focus to the question of whether there are totally selfless states of consciousness (TSSC). The primary source of evidence for the existence of TSSC is the subjective reports from subjects who either are currently undergoing or have undergone altered experiences such as drug-induced ego dissolution. While the subjective reports are made largely after the occurrence of the experience, such reports have been challenged on the basis that one cannot coherently report about TSSC from one’s own, autobiographical memory. This paper addresses this issue regarding TSSC from the perspective of memory study. The aim is to examine whether and how it is possible for a subject to report a past TSSC based on her own memory without being considered as confabulating or misremembering. Such an examination can provide potential explanations for how a person reports a past experience of TSSC.