Genevieve Hayman | Georgetown University (original) (raw)
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Papers by Genevieve Hayman
Routledge Handbook on the Philosophy of Meditation, 2022
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 42, 2019
Hoerl & McCormack claim that the temporal updating system only represents the world as present. T... more Hoerl & McCormack claim that the temporal updating system only represents the world as present. This generates puzzles regarding the phenomenology of temporal experience. We argue that recent models of reinforcement learning suggest that temporal updating must have a minimal temporal structure; and we suggest that this helps to clarify what it means to experience the world as temporally structured.
The potential for mirror neuron research to explain various aspects of social cognition has recei... more The potential for mirror neuron research to explain various aspects of social cognition has received considerable attention over the past two decades. Initially, mirror neuron research may seem in accordance with a phenomenological understanding of intersubjectivity, but the work of Dan Zahavi will be used to highlight significant incompatibilities between the two. Likewise, the enactivists Thomas Fuchs and Hanne De Jaegher identify significant issues with current interpretations of mirror neuron research and provide an alternative description of intersubjectivity. This article will assess whether the enactivists are able to provide a more phenomenologically consistent alternative to mirror neuron research alone, eventually determining that their enactive account overcomes Zahavi's incompatibilities. Consequently, Fuchs and De Jaegher should acknowledge their relation to Husserlian descriptions of empathy in their account, and mirror neuron research should be contextualised within a broader, phenomenologically-compatible framework, as that of the enactivists.
Thesis Chapters by Genevieve Hayman
Time for Phenomenology and Science: On Francisco Varela's Naturalization of Husserlian Time Consciousness, 2015
Phenomenology refers to a study and methodology often associated with Edmund Husserl who outlined... more Phenomenology refers to a study and methodology often associated with Edmund Husserl who outlined the need to focus on essences of perception or consciousness. Husserl was a strict anti-naturalist who believed one must begin with experience before assuming any of the ontological or epistemic claims found in the natural sciences. However, certain perspectives within cognitive science (such as those presented by Jean Petitot, Francisco Varela, Bernard Pachoud, and Jean-Michel Roy in their 1999 book Naturalizing Phenomenology) have recently acknowledged Husserl’s efforts and admitted the importance of adopting a phenomenological perspective. As such, they have advocated the ‘naturalization’ of phenomenological accounts such that the natural sciences and phenomenology might be held in mutual regard. One prominent example of this endeavour can be seen with Francisco Varela’s 1999 publication “The Specious Present: A Neurophenomenology of Time Consciousness”. This thesis will provide a short description of time-consciousness as described by Husserl followed by an explanation of Varela’s naturalization. Subsequently, there will be an analysis and critique of Varela’s model, citing his ascription to neural correlates and use of clock time as problematic for phenomenology. The final subchapter will discuss the incompatibility between the method of phenomenology and the method of its naturalization. Ultimately, the version of naturalization suggested by Petitot et al. (1999) and exemplified by Varela (1999) will be rendered inadequate in this thesis.
Routledge Handbook on the Philosophy of Meditation, 2022
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 42, 2019
Hoerl & McCormack claim that the temporal updating system only represents the world as present. T... more Hoerl & McCormack claim that the temporal updating system only represents the world as present. This generates puzzles regarding the phenomenology of temporal experience. We argue that recent models of reinforcement learning suggest that temporal updating must have a minimal temporal structure; and we suggest that this helps to clarify what it means to experience the world as temporally structured.
The potential for mirror neuron research to explain various aspects of social cognition has recei... more The potential for mirror neuron research to explain various aspects of social cognition has received considerable attention over the past two decades. Initially, mirror neuron research may seem in accordance with a phenomenological understanding of intersubjectivity, but the work of Dan Zahavi will be used to highlight significant incompatibilities between the two. Likewise, the enactivists Thomas Fuchs and Hanne De Jaegher identify significant issues with current interpretations of mirror neuron research and provide an alternative description of intersubjectivity. This article will assess whether the enactivists are able to provide a more phenomenologically consistent alternative to mirror neuron research alone, eventually determining that their enactive account overcomes Zahavi's incompatibilities. Consequently, Fuchs and De Jaegher should acknowledge their relation to Husserlian descriptions of empathy in their account, and mirror neuron research should be contextualised within a broader, phenomenologically-compatible framework, as that of the enactivists.
Time for Phenomenology and Science: On Francisco Varela's Naturalization of Husserlian Time Consciousness, 2015
Phenomenology refers to a study and methodology often associated with Edmund Husserl who outlined... more Phenomenology refers to a study and methodology often associated with Edmund Husserl who outlined the need to focus on essences of perception or consciousness. Husserl was a strict anti-naturalist who believed one must begin with experience before assuming any of the ontological or epistemic claims found in the natural sciences. However, certain perspectives within cognitive science (such as those presented by Jean Petitot, Francisco Varela, Bernard Pachoud, and Jean-Michel Roy in their 1999 book Naturalizing Phenomenology) have recently acknowledged Husserl’s efforts and admitted the importance of adopting a phenomenological perspective. As such, they have advocated the ‘naturalization’ of phenomenological accounts such that the natural sciences and phenomenology might be held in mutual regard. One prominent example of this endeavour can be seen with Francisco Varela’s 1999 publication “The Specious Present: A Neurophenomenology of Time Consciousness”. This thesis will provide a short description of time-consciousness as described by Husserl followed by an explanation of Varela’s naturalization. Subsequently, there will be an analysis and critique of Varela’s model, citing his ascription to neural correlates and use of clock time as problematic for phenomenology. The final subchapter will discuss the incompatibility between the method of phenomenology and the method of its naturalization. Ultimately, the version of naturalization suggested by Petitot et al. (1999) and exemplified by Varela (1999) will be rendered inadequate in this thesis.