Abstract
“Protoconsciousness” is the central concept in Hobson’s (2009) new theory. In this brief commentary, I will focus on two aspects of the protoconsciousness theory. First, what precisely is protoconsciousness? Is it a phenomenon of consciousness, although more “primitive” in form than our waking consciousness? Or is it an unconscious, purely neural process? This central question remains somewhat unclear in the theory. Second, what does the protoconsciousness theory say about the function of dreaming?
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Revonsuo, A. (2014). The Idea, Championed by Your Group, That Dreaming Functions as Threat Avoidance Would Seem to Be Quite Compatible with Protoconsciousness Theory. But Is It Really Dreaming (as Against REM) That Performs That Function? In Other Words, Are You a Dualist or a Neutral Monist?. In: Tranquillo, N. (eds) Dream Consciousness. Vienna Circle Institute Library, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07296-8_30
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