Dreamless Sleep, the Embodied Mind, and Consciousness The Relevance of a Classical Indian Debate to Cognitive Science
January 1, 2015 DOI: 10.31231/osf.io/d9gqa via Semantic Scholar
Summary
A major debate in classical Indian philosophy concerns whether consciousness persists in dreamless sleep. Advaita Vedānta and Yoga argue it does, while Nyāya holds it does not. This debate challenges the neuroscientific definition of consciousness as that which disappears in dreamless sleep and reappears upon waking or dreaming. The Indian arguments offer new resources for contemporary philosophy of mind, while cognitive neuroscience findings inform Indian debates about cognition during sleep and discussions of the self.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | The Indian philosophical debate on consciousness in dreamless sleep challenges the standard neuroscientific operational definition of consciousness and suggests a need for a more refined taxonomy of sleep states. |
Abstract
One of the major debates in classical Indian philosophy concerned whether consciousness is present or absent in dreamless sleep. The philosophical schools of Advaita Vedānta and Yoga maintained that consciousness is present in dreamless sleep, whereas the Nyāya school maintained that it is absent. Consideration of this debate, especially the reasoning used by Advaita Vedānta to rebut the Nyāya view, calls into question the standard neuroscientific way of operationally defining consciousness as “that which disappears in dreamless sleep and reappears when we wake up or dream.” The Indian debate also offers new resources for contemporary philosophy of mind. At the same time, findings from cognitive neuroscience have important implications for Indian debates about cognition during sleep, as well as for Indian and Western philosophical discussions of the self and its relationship to the body. Finally, considerations about sleep drawn from the Indian materials suggest that we need a more refined taxonomy of sleep states than that which sleep science currently employs, and that contemplative methods of mind training are relevant for advancing the neurophenomenology of sleep and consciousness.