dr hab. Paweł Gładziejewski, prof. uczelni
Katedra Kognitywistyki
Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu
Contemplative practices and psychedelic compounds occasionally induce experiences reported as entirely lacking the sense of temporal flow or an orientation in time. The purpose of the talk is to investigate the nature of such 'atemporal’ experiences. First, I will propose that atemporal experiences are best construed as stemming from a disruption of the formal structure of conscious experience, rather than of the temporal contents represented in the experience. By 'formal structure’, I mean the principles by which contents are assembled or synthesized to yield a coherent experience of the world, including its temporal shape. Second, I will employ Wittgenstein’s concept of a hinge commitment to explain how such formal disruption of consciousness can (and sometimes does) affect metaphysical beliefs, including ones that pertain to the nature of time. Third, I will sketch out an empirically and theoretically motivated account of how disrupting temporal frames of conscious experience can yield therapeutic effects for individuals whose mental suffering is related to the experience of time. This latter category includes, for example, the experience of frozen time in depression.