How Can the Protoconsciousness Hypothesis Contribute to Philosophical Theories of Consciousness and the Self?

Abstract

In his William James lectures on Dream Consciousness, Allan Hobson provides a rich and multi-faceted introduction to state-of-the-art findings from sleep and dream research, as well as an overview of his own wide-ranging contributions to this field. It is no exaggeration to say that his work has shaped contemporary theories of sleep and dreaming like no other. But he has done even more: by showing how his work on dreaming fits into broader theories of consciousness (Hobson et al. 2000) and psychotic wake states (Hobson 1999), he has repeatedly emphasized its implications for the theoretical understanding of consciousness itself. His long-standing willingness to connect the fields of sleep and dream research with contemporary work on consciousness whilst bridging disciplinary gaps is of tremendous value, especially given the fact that dream research continues to be a fairly marginalized field. The success of this approach is reflected in the broad range of contributions from leading researchers in various fields in this volume. It will be of great value for scholars and students for years to come.