Phenomenon of Aphantasia in the Context of Discussion about Consciousness

Abstract

In 2010 A. Zeman and his colleagues investigated the case of a man who lost the ability to create internal imaginative representations after undergoing heart surgery. However, despite the lack of ability to imagine, the patient was able to correctly cope with tests on imagination using an alternative cognitive strategy. In subsequent work A. Zeman gave the name to the studied phenomenon – afan­tasia. The article discusses the phenomenon of afantasia in connection with the question of the nature and function of consciousness. The article emphasizes the special status of imagination in the discussion about consciousness. The author points to the process of “emancipation of consciousness”, which is observed in the contemporary philosophy of consciousness and consists in the gradual ex­pansion of consciousness in the world. On the example of afantasia the author discusses the possibility of movement in the research of the mind to the opposite from the “emancipation of consciousness” direction.