The embodied transcendental: a Kantian perspective on neurophenomenology
Neurophenomenology is a research programme aimed at bridging the explanatory gap between first-person subjective experience and neurophysiological third-person data, through an embodied and enactive approach to the biology of consciousness. The present proposal attempts to further characterize the b...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2013-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00611/full |
| _version_ | 1819146527828869120 |
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| author | Omar Timothy Khachouf Stefano ePoletti Giuseppe ePagnoni |
| author_facet | Omar Timothy Khachouf Stefano ePoletti Giuseppe ePagnoni |
| author_sort | Omar Timothy Khachouf |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Neurophenomenology is a research programme aimed at bridging the explanatory gap between first-person subjective experience and neurophysiological third-person data, through an embodied and enactive approach to the biology of consciousness. The present proposal attempts to further characterize the bodily basis of the mind by adopting a naturalistic view of the phenomenological concept of intentionality as the a priori invariant character of any lived experience. Building on the Kantian definition of transcendentality as what concerns the a prioriformal structures of the subject’s mind and as a precondition for the very possibility of human knowledge, we will suggest that this transcendental core may in fact be rooted in biology and can be examined within an extension of the theory of autopoiesis. The argument will be first clarified by examining its application to previously proposed elementary autopoietic models, to the bacterium, and to the immune system; it will be then further substantiated and illustrated by examining the mirror-neuron system and the default mode network as biological instances exemplifying the enactive nature of knowledge, and by discussing the phenomenological aspects of selected neurological conditions (neglect, schizophrenia). In this context, the free-energy principle proposed recently by Karl Friston will be briefly introduced as a rigorous, neurally-plausible framework that seems to accomodate optimally these ideas. While our approach is biologically-inspired, we will maintain that lived first-person experience is still critical for a better understanding of brain function, based on our argument that the former and the latter share the same transcendental structure. Finally, the role that disciplined contemplative practices can play to this aim, and an interpretation of the cognitive processes taking place during meditation under this perspective, will be also discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T13:15:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4e8bcc26b1b44e5f8c0b9992e3a2661c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T13:15:21Z |
| publishDate | 2013-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-4e8bcc26b1b44e5f8c0b9992e3a2661c2022-12-21T18:24:38ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612013-09-01710.3389/fnhum.2013.0061155292The embodied transcendental: a Kantian perspective on neurophenomenologyOmar Timothy Khachouf0Stefano ePoletti1Giuseppe ePagnoni2University of Modena and Reggio EmiliaUniversity of BolognaUniversity of Modena and Reggio EmiliaNeurophenomenology is a research programme aimed at bridging the explanatory gap between first-person subjective experience and neurophysiological third-person data, through an embodied and enactive approach to the biology of consciousness. The present proposal attempts to further characterize the bodily basis of the mind by adopting a naturalistic view of the phenomenological concept of intentionality as the a priori invariant character of any lived experience. Building on the Kantian definition of transcendentality as what concerns the a prioriformal structures of the subject’s mind and as a precondition for the very possibility of human knowledge, we will suggest that this transcendental core may in fact be rooted in biology and can be examined within an extension of the theory of autopoiesis. The argument will be first clarified by examining its application to previously proposed elementary autopoietic models, to the bacterium, and to the immune system; it will be then further substantiated and illustrated by examining the mirror-neuron system and the default mode network as biological instances exemplifying the enactive nature of knowledge, and by discussing the phenomenological aspects of selected neurological conditions (neglect, schizophrenia). In this context, the free-energy principle proposed recently by Karl Friston will be briefly introduced as a rigorous, neurally-plausible framework that seems to accomodate optimally these ideas. While our approach is biologically-inspired, we will maintain that lived first-person experience is still critical for a better understanding of brain function, based on our argument that the former and the latter share the same transcendental structure. Finally, the role that disciplined contemplative practices can play to this aim, and an interpretation of the cognitive processes taking place during meditation under this perspective, will be also discussed.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00611/fullMeditationDefault Mode Networkongoing activityKantneurophenomenologyfree-energy |
| spellingShingle | Omar Timothy Khachouf Stefano ePoletti Giuseppe ePagnoni The embodied transcendental: a Kantian perspective on neurophenomenology Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Meditation Default Mode Network ongoing activity Kant neurophenomenology free-energy |
| title | The embodied transcendental: a Kantian perspective on neurophenomenology |
| title_full | The embodied transcendental: a Kantian perspective on neurophenomenology |
| title_fullStr | The embodied transcendental: a Kantian perspective on neurophenomenology |
| title_full_unstemmed | The embodied transcendental: a Kantian perspective on neurophenomenology |
| title_short | The embodied transcendental: a Kantian perspective on neurophenomenology |
| title_sort | embodied transcendental a kantian perspective on neurophenomenology |
| topic | Meditation Default Mode Network ongoing activity Kant neurophenomenology free-energy |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00611/full |
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