Remembering a quixotic approach to the "hard problem"

October 31, 2021 9:37 AM

I am seeking help recalling an unusual philosophy of mind project. In my foggy recollection, the project involved two male philosophy professors with opposing views on consciousness some time in the last 15 years regularly interviewing a young female student about her recollections of the past week in order to ascertain if she was truly conscious. In my memory, a book length work on the project was published and perhaps even discussed on Metafiler or Arts and Letters Daily.

What might I be remembering? I haven't been able to come up with any trace of this supposed project in my searches online, but perhaps this rings a bell for someone. I don't think the philosophers were stars in their field. As absurd as the idea of proving or disproving consciousness (or anything about it) through regular interviews with a single person seems to me, the project seemed to be entirely serious to my memory.

I welcome suggestions that don't perfectly match with the details I'm suggesting, as I am not confident about any of it.

posted by reren to Religion & Philosophy (4 answers total)

Best answer: Could it be Describing Inner Experience?
posted by DarkForest at 11:33 AM on October 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Yes, I think that must have been it! The project was less bizarre than I remembered. Maybe I'll get the book, even.

Thank you so much, DarkForest. It's so satisfying to know that this aspect of my inner experience wasn't totally imaginary. I'd be curious to know how you found the book or knew about it.
posted by reren at 1:30 PM on October 31, 2021

reren, in my household, we've had a long term interest in questions of consciousness. I came across the book while randomly browsing a university bookstore, and bought it as a gift. We read it with interest.
posted by DarkForest at 1:53 PM on October 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

Here’s a Salon article about the book that I included in a Mefi post about aphantasia years ago. The exercise is more about the reliability of self-reported inner experience, rather than the existence of consciousness. Interesting setup, but the gender dynamic in the “interrogation” parts can be distractingly maddening.
posted by yarrow at 3:36 PM on October 31, 2021 [2 favorites]