Abstract
Aphantasia is a recently discovered disorder characterised by the total incapacity to generate visual forms of mental imagery. This paper proposes that aphantasia raises important theoretical concerns for the ongoing debate in the philosophy and science of consciousness over the nature of dreams. Recent studies of aphantasia and its neurobehavioral correlates reveal that the majority of aphantasics, whilst unable to produce visual imagery while awake, nevertheless retain the capacity to experience rich visual dreams. This finding constitutes a novel explanandum for theories of dreaming. Specifically, I argue that the recent dream reports of aphantasics constitute an empirical challenge to the emerging family of views which claim that dreams are essentially imaginative experiences, constitutively involving the kinds of mental imagery which aphantasics, ex-hypothesi, lack. After presenting this challenge in the context of Jonathan Ichikawa’s recent arguments for this view, I argue that this empirical challenge may be overcome if the imagination theorist abandons Ichikawa’s account of dreaming in favour of a modified version. This involves the claim that dreams are essentially inactive and constitutively involve non voluntary forms of imagination. I conclude with a suggestion for further research which can test the viability of this alternative hypothesis, and move the debate forward.
Highlights
Aphantasia is a recently discovered disorder characterised by the total incapacity to generate visual forms of mental imagery
My argument, which results in a dilemma for Ichikawa, is based on the following claims: (i) Ichikawa is committed to the claim that dreams often involve visual forms of mental imagery—which he characterises as essentially agential phenomena—as central and constitutive components, (ii) that aphantasic subjects ex hypothesi lack the capacity for these kinds of agential experiences and (iii), that aphantasic subjects report having rich visual dreams
Whilst there is much to be said about the case for the second of Ichikawa’s central claims—that dreaming involves taking an imaginative attitude towards the content of our dreams—and whether the imagination model of dreaming ought to commit to this claim, my focus here is on the arguments Ichikawa puts forward for (i) imagery, and in particular, the empirical evidence from cognitive and behavioural psychology he presents in favour of this thesis
Summary
An emerging debate in the philosophy and science of consciousness concerns the nature and ontological status of dreams. 5 I bring these together and argue that the dream reports of aphantasic subjects recorded to date present an empirical challenge to the imagination model of dreaming presented by Ichikawa. My argument, which results in a dilemma for Ichikawa, is based on the following claims: (i) Ichikawa is committed to the claim that dreams often involve visual forms of mental imagery—which he characterises as essentially agential phenomena—as central and constitutive components, (ii) that aphantasic subjects ex hypothesi lack the capacity for these kinds of agential experiences and (iii), that aphantasic subjects report having rich visual dreams. 7 with a discussion of the broader implications of aphantasia for theories of dreaming This includes a proposal for future dream research which can shed light on the empirical viability of this alternative model of dreaming, and move contemporary debate on the conceptualisation question forward
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