On the Possibility of Pure Consciousness
The Problem of Pure Consciousness March 29, 1990 Mark B Woodhouse 6 citations
Throughout history and across cultures, many people have reported experiences of 'pure' consciousness—awareness without content or intention. Major spiritual traditions are built around these experiences and the goal of achieving them. However, many Western philosophical and scientific traditions deny not only that such experiences occur, but also that they are possible, often defining consciousness in ways that rule out a pure state by definition. This essay argues that neither logical nor phenomenological considerations exclude the existence of pure consciousness.