Philosophical Psychology 32 (1):52-71 (2019)
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Abstract |
While philosophers of mind have devoted abundant time and attention to questions of content and consciousness, philosophical questions about the nature and scope of mental action have been relatively neglected. Galen Strawson’s account of mental action, arguably the most well-known extant account, holds that cognitive mental action consists in triggering the delivery of content to one’s field of consciousness. However, Strawson fails to recognize several distinct types of mental action that might not reduce to triggering content delivery. In this paper, we argue that meditation provides a useful model for understanding a wider range of types of mental action than heretofore recognized. Conclusions yielded by two distinct bodies of current psychological research on meditation and cognition, and meditation and introspection, buttress meditation’s suitability for this role.
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Keywords | Mental Action Meditation Mindfulness Introspection |
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Reprint years | 2018, 2019 |
DOI | 10.1080/09515089.2018.1514491 |
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References found in this work BETA
The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory.David J. Chalmers - 1996 - Oxford University Press.
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Citations of this work BETA
Exploring the Structure of Mental Action in Directed Thought.Johannes Wagemann - 2022 - Philosophical Psychology 35 (2):145-176.
Defining Meditation: Foundations for an Activity-Based Phenomenological Classification System.Terje Sparby & Matthew D. Sacchet - 2022 - Frontiers in Psychology 12.
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