Consciousness and Dreamless Sleep

Evan Thompson (University of British Columbia)

Evan Thompson: Conciousness and Dreamless Sleep

Abstract: 

New research suggests that deep and dreamless sleep may not be a blackout state in which consciousness is absent, but instead a state in which various kinds of conscious states may occur. This lecture will present an overview of current thinking about sleep and consciousness from the perspectives of cognitive neuroscience, the science of sleep, and the philosophy of mind. Special consideration will be given to the idea that dreamless sleep may include states of “minimal phenomenal experience,” a candidate for the simplest form of consciousness.

Speaker Profile:

Evan Thompson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, where he is also an Associate Member of the Department of Psychology (Cognitive Science) and the Department of Asian Studies. His books include Waking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy (Columbia University Press 2015), and Why I Am Not a Buddhist (Yale University Press, 2020).