Annual Lecture Series (in-person)
Lunchtime Talks (in-person)
Conferences (in-person)
Online-Only Events
- This event has passed.
LTT: R. Krempel
September 27, 2022 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EDT
Title: Aphantasia, unsymbolized thinking and conscious thoughts
Abstract: According to a common view, conscious thoughts necessarily involve mental images. This is alleged to be the case not only when one entertains conscious thoughts about perceptible things like cats or waterfalls, but also when one thinks about more abstract things, like the nature of concepts. In the case of abstract conscious propositional thoughts, the idea is that they occur in inner speech, which is taken to involve imagery (typically auditory) of words in a natural language. I argue that unsymbolized thinking and total aphantasia cast doubt on this view. Unsymbolized thinking is the experience of conscious thoughts that does not involve imagery. Total aphantasia is the inability to produce mental images of all sensory modalities. I consider and respond to the objection that these individuals are mistaken either because there are images present in their thoughts, or because those thoughts are not conscious. We are left with no reason to doubt their reports. Unsymbolized thinking and aphantasia provide evidence that conscious thoughts can occur in the absence of imagery.
This talk will also be available live streamed on You Tube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg.
Details
- Date:
- September 27, 2022
- Time:
-
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EDT
Venue
- 1117 Cathedral of Learning
-
4200 Fifth Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15260 United States