The Landscape of Introspection

What Forms Could Introspective Systems Take?

Author: François Kammerer and Keith Frankish Series: Journal of Consciousness Studies

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The Landscape of Introspection, first published as a special issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies, offers an informed, contemporary, and challenging view of what introspection is – and could be.

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Summary

Description

We can introspect. We can look inwards, as it were, at our own minds and represent what is occurring there. Philosophers and psychologists have speculated about how we do this, but there has been little exploration of the wider theoretical landscape in the area. Could other beings, such as non-human animals and artificial intelligences, introspect too? What forms might their introspection take? Do some humans introspect in nonstandard ways, and can humans develop new introspective powers through techniques such as meditation?

This book, a reprint of a special issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies, explores this neglected landscape. It opens with a target article by the editors, which proposes an ambitious research programme on possible forms of introspection and provides maps and conceptual tools to get the project under way. This is followed by fifteen commentaries from leading philosophers and cognitive scientists. Topics discussed include the experimental study of introspection, introspection in animals, LLMs, and group minds, and the effects on introspection of meditation and certain psychiatric conditions. The volume concludes with a reply by the editors, which revises and extends their original proposal.

The Landscape of Introspection offers an informed, contemporary, and challenging view of what introspection is – and could be.

Critic Reviews

"Frankish and Kammerer fathom a vast space of possible introspection devices, spanning from humans and animals to AI. Their exploration is enriched by 15 interdisciplinary commentaries that collectively invite us to profoundly rethink what it means to introspect." -Axel Cleeremans, Professor of Cognitive Psychology, Université libre de Bruxelles.

"Kammerer and Frankish introduce a novel programmatic approach to studying actual and possible introspective systems... Their ambitious conceptual framework comes to life through carefully curated companion articles by leading researchers in philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience." - Jorge Morales, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Philosophy, Northeastern University.

About the Author

François Kammerer is a CNRS Research Associate at the Archives Henri-Poincaré (CNRS, Université de Lorraine, Université de Strasbourg), France.Keith Frankish is Honorary Professor in Philosophy at the University of Sheffield, UK, Visiting Research Fellow at The Open University, UK, and Adjunct Professor with the Brain and Mind Programme in Neurosciences at the University of Crete, Greece.