“Merely Believing and Really Believing: Mental Imagery in Personal Transformation”

Talk Description: As a teacher of mine once remarked, when we say that teenagers think they are immortal, we don’t mean that they would fail a biology test. Teenagers believe, truly and justifiably, that they will die, but there is also a sense in which they – and perhaps most of us – don’t really believe it. The topic of this talk is exactly this difference between merely believing and really believing a proposition – between knowing it only in our head, as we might say, and knowing it in our heart, or feeling it in our bones. The shift from ‘head’ knowledge to ‘heart’ knowledge has been much discussed but is still not fully understood. A fuller understanding of it could shed light on interesting theoretical questions and be of significant practical benefit, given the apparent therapeutic and transformative relevance of such shifts. In the talk I explore a simple proposal about the cognitive nature of such shifts: that they consist primarily in the activation of mental imagery. My ultimate conclusion is that this proposal gets at part of the truth, but may not be the whole story. Exploring its limits promises to shed further light on the nature of the shifts themselves, and perhaps even on broader questions about cognitive architecture.

Bio: Dr Chris Letheby is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at The University of Western Australia (UWA). His areas of specialization are philosophy of mind, philosophy of cognitive science, and philosophy of neuroscience. His research interests include the causal mechanisms and epistemic status of transformative spiritual practices, the possibility of a “naturalistic spirituality”, and the nature of self-awareness. At UWA he teaches topics including intro to philosophy, formal logic, epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, philosophy of artificial intelligence, and philosophy of psychology and psychiatry.

Letheby’s research to date has focused mainly on the use of classic psychedelic drugs in neuroscience and psychiatry. In several articles and a book, he has argued that a traditional conception of psychedelics as agents of insight and spirituality can be reconciled with naturalism, the philosophical position that the natural world is all there is. He takes a neurophilosophical approach, grounding his philosophical analyses in scientific findings, and he has engaged in several interdisciplinary collaborations with neuroscientists and psychologists.

Attendance is free, no RSVP is required. Light refreshments will be served.