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(2016) Philosophy and psychology of time, Dordrecht, Springer.

The stream of consciousness

a philosophical account

Oliver Rashbrook-Cooper

pp. 117-134

In this chapter I provide characterisation and explanation of what the 'streamlikeness' of consciousness consists in. I distinguish two elements of streamlikeness—Phenomenal Flow, and Phenomenal Continuity. I then show how these elements of the phenomenology can be explained within an Extensionalist account of temporal experience. I also provide criticism of attempts to conceive of the streamlikeness of consciousness in terms of the absence of "gaps' in conscious experience. The "gapless' conception of streamlikeness generates a worry about the stream of consciousness potentially being illusory, as psychological research reveals the processes underlying consciousness to be gappy. The account of streamlikeness I provide generates no such worry, and thus provides a way to reconcile phenomenological and psychological research into the stream of consciousness.

Publication details

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-22195-3_7

Full citation:

Rashbrook-Cooper, O. (2016)., The stream of consciousness: a philosophical account, in V. Arstila & P. Øhrstrøm (eds.), Philosophy and psychology of time, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 117-134.

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