Abstract: Enactivism regards itself as the paradigm of cognitive science that puts an end to Representationalism. Representationalism conceives of objective reality as independent from, and prior...Show moreAbstract: Enactivism regards itself as the paradigm of cognitive science that puts an end to Representationalism. Representationalism conceives of objective reality as independent from, and prior to the mind. The mind is therefore posited as a secondary representation of the primary reality which creates a dualistic divide between ontology and epistemology. Enactivism conceives of reality and the mind as interdependently arising in unison with each other. The mind is conceived as the activity of the organism in interdependence with its environment. This is how Enactivism believes to end up with a non-dualistic conception of reality that is capable of conceiving of life as evolving autonomously, as opposed to being predetermined by the one objective reality in itself. Enactivism uses the notion of self-reference in order to make sense of this interdependent becoming of the organism and its environment in a dialectically circular fashion. This dialectics of circularity, though, due to Enactivism’s existentialistic philosophical roots, is conceived entirely from within the perspective of life itself. Reality in itself is not addressed due to existentialistic fears of ending up with the presupposition of a deterministic thing-initself. I will show that Enactivism nonetheless ends up with the very same dualistic separation between reality itself and mind that is believed to be the cause of Representationalism, precisely because it avoids answering the question of reality in itself (i.e., reality prior to mind and life). In other words, I will show that Enactivism can only be regarded as logically coherent, once we extend this philosophy of 'becoming' into reality in itself. Reconstructing Hegel’s self-referential logic of negation, which I will prove to be the nondual solution to Representationalism, and thereby dualistic thinking as a whole, I will provide a non-dualistic answer to the conception of reality in itself. I will thus show how Enactivism, by avoiding to conceive of reality in itself as selfreferential, inadvertently falls back upon this Dualism. Enactivism falls short of following through on its principle of self-reference, as it restricts this principle to life itself, as opposed to applying it to all of reality. The application of the principle of self-reference to the whole of reality will additionally be shown to be not only in line with but also fulfilling all of Enactivism’s core desiderata, while also giving logical sense to the Buddhistic philosophy of Non-Dualism and Emptiness that is at the very heart of Enactivism’s project of overcoming Representationalism. The result will be a non-dual understanding of reality as the self-referential becoming of the psyche as subjective (i.e., immaterial) change of the object (i.e., matter). This understanding of the psyche will amount to the foundation of a non-dual science of psychology.Show less
This thesis broadly reviews the current literature on voice-like thought. I observe two major lines of explaining the phenomenon of inner speech (‘the little voice inside our heads’), which are...Show moreThis thesis broadly reviews the current literature on voice-like thought. I observe two major lines of explaining the phenomenon of inner speech (‘the little voice inside our heads’), which are perception-based and action-based approaches. The former focuses on inner speech as an auditory experience, and the latter focuses on inner speech being an act of speaking. This thesis discusses a currently dominant action-based model on inner speech (the forward model). The model includes a theory of how errors in inner speech generation can lead to clinical symptoms commonly found in people diagnosed with schizophrenia, such as auditory verbal hallucinations (‘hearing voices’). The way I will approach the topic is to find key assumptions on which the forward model is based, and discuss the concepts used in these assumptions. I argue mainly that inner hearing as a concept should be considered in further developing the model, and that the definitions of sense of agency, sense of ownership, intention, and source-monitoring need to be sharpened. This review aims to contribute to mapping our verbal mental experiences and their interrelations, which will ultimately be useful in clinical contexts. Hence, this work is meant to guide future research projects and inspire ongoing discussion about our verbal mental experiences.Show less
An analysis of several passages from Nietzsche's 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra' is used to explore possible reasons for the attractiveness of videogame worlds.
Humanity’s excessive consumptive behaviour is the primary cause of ecological destruction. Yet, neither lowering consumption nor production levels seem to be addressed in environmental policies and...Show moreHumanity’s excessive consumptive behaviour is the primary cause of ecological destruction. Yet, neither lowering consumption nor production levels seem to be addressed in environmental policies and thus remain notably high. Therefore, this dissertation investigates the psychological roots of humanity’s ecologically destructive consumptive behaviour. My hypothesis is that ecological alienation and self-alienation are the main, compounding factors of ecologically destructive consumptive behaviour. Ecological alienation leads to devaluation of nature. As environmental values are paramount to sustainability-driven behaviour, devaluation of nature decreases the prevalence of such behaviour. Additionally, I argue that humanity’s excessive consumption is driven by consumptive addiction whereby individuals substitute their authentic physical, mental and emotional needs with consumption; and that this consumptive addiction is rooted in self-alienation. I suggest that ecological alienation and self-alienation are themselves rooted in the modern industrial worldview and its related value systems, and that these factors influence and reinforce each other. Ultimately, what is necessary to counter ecologically destructive addictive consumptive behaviour might be exactly what runs the risk of being indefinitely destroyed because of it: humanity’s reconnection with nature.Show less
There is increasing awareness of the importance of the body in psychology and philosophy of mind. Embodied accounts of the self are promising in explaining the perceived unity and continuity...Show moreThere is increasing awareness of the importance of the body in psychology and philosophy of mind. Embodied accounts of the self are promising in explaining the perceived unity and continuity characteristic of it: the body provides spatiotemporal locatedness, and embodied experience provides relationships to and interaction with the environment. Given this emphasis on the body, it is surprising to find a lack of consideration of how the embodied self persists through time: as a three-dimensional entity, or rather as a four-dimensional one with temporal parts as well as spatial parts? Conversely, in discussions on persistence over time, a purely mental approach is dominant. I set out to detail the metaphysical debate on persistence, how it is typically applied to persons, and develop a novel account merging various influential lines of thought. The result is an embodied self as a perduring, bio-processual entity.Show less
Over the past decade, the Netherlands has performed evidently worse in terms of gender inequality in its labour market compared to other European countries. The psychological model of implicit bias...Show moreOver the past decade, the Netherlands has performed evidently worse in terms of gender inequality in its labour market compared to other European countries. The psychological model of implicit bias, gaining popularity within the academic world as well as public discourses, is thought to account for such structural and persistent gender inequality. According to the implicit bias model, people harbour mental associations with the words ‘female’ and ‘male’, eliciting subtle forms of discrimination, with gender inequality as a consequence. It is my contention that the model of implicit bias is inadequate in order to account for structural and persistent gender inequality in the Dutch labour market. I will argue that the implicit bias model is inherently based on a dualistic ontoepistemological framework that is problematic from a feminist philosophical perspective. Grounding my arguments in the theories of the feminist philosophers Simone de Beauvoir, Donna Haraway, Judith Butler, and Linda Martín Alcoff, I will show that theories of implicit bias overlook that (1) gender knowledge cannot be viewed independently from its producer and that (2) there is no reality of gender outside of the discursive. Based on the onto-epistemological findings on gender production, established throughout my thesis, I will introduce a non-dualistic framework from which gender inequality in the Dutch labour market can and should be studied, which I refer to as gender transactionalism. In this transactionalist model, gender inequality in the Dutch labour market is understood as the continuous transaction between unequal gender knowledges and the performativity of these genders as visible within our everyday lives. Implications of the findings and recommendations for future research will be discussed.Show less
De kwaliteit van de therapeutische relatie in psychotherapie, de persoonlijke band tussen de therapeut en de patiënt, blijkt erg bepalend voor het behandelresultaat. Dit wordt in de regel...Show moreDe kwaliteit van de therapeutische relatie in psychotherapie, de persoonlijke band tussen de therapeut en de patiënt, blijkt erg bepalend voor het behandelresultaat. Dit wordt in de regel onderscheiden van technieken, als zijnde alle manieren waarop klachten, gedragingen en herstel begrepen worden en al de interventies die hieruit volgen. Deze scriptie beschrijft drie benaderingen die de kracht van de relatie in onderscheid van technieken pogen te verklaren, vanuit de stellingname dat het belang van de relatie relevant is voor de verantwoordelijkheid die de therapeut ten overstaan van de patiënt heeft. Door gebruik te maken van verschillende plaatsen die door filosofen aan de ethiek zijn toegekend, worden verschillende mogelijkheden zichtbaar. De faciliterende relatie, ten eerste, leert dat de kracht van de relatie gelegen is in haar ondersteuning van de technieken. De atechnische relatie, ten tweede, stoelt op Bubers begrip van de ethische tussenruimte en beschrijft de relatie op haar krachtigst wanneer technieken slechts een geminimaliseerde rol spelen. De asymmetrische relatie, ten slotte, stoelt op Levinas’ begrip van de ethiek als eerste filosofie en leert dat de confrontatie met een ander oproept tot verantwoordelijkheid en dat dit (in beide richtingen) de kracht van de therapeutische relatie verklaren kan. Deze laatste benadering wordt als de meest plausibele verklaring voorgesteld. Deze benadering onderstreept de waarde van een kwetsbare betrokkenheid van de psychotherapeut op het therapeutisch proces.Show less
