Why are out-of-body experiences interesting for philosophers? The theoretical relevance of OBE research.

摘要

After decades of only sparse scientific interest, we are currently witnessing a renaissance of empirical research into out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and full-body illusions. Being a philosopher of mind, Iobviously have only a limited judgment of how good this research actually is from a purely scientific point of view. What I can do, however, is to draw attention to a series of theoretical aspects that make OBEs a particularly relevant target of investigation in the ongoing search for the neural correlate of self-consciousness and in the wider context of an empirically grounded theory of the human mind.