June 9, 2025

Conscious Thought Under Sensory Deprivation: Avicenna’s Flying Man and ‘I’

Key Points

Avicenna’s argument on conscious thought under sensory deprivation stands valid and significant.
This interpretation reconciles the Flying Man with concerns about referential opacity commonly linked to dualism.
Comparative analysis includes Anscombe’s views on conscious thought without sensory inputs.
The investigation prompts consideration of multiple implications and critical assessments of these philosophical arguments.

Abstract

Abstract This paper does three things. First, it presents a new interpretation of Avicenna’s influential argument, the Flying Man. One nice feature of this interpretation is that it vindicates the argument’s validity. Unlike the cogito-inspired case for dualism, the Flying Man isn’t undermined by neglect of referential opacity. Second, it compares Avicenna’s argument with Anscombe’s take on the possibility of conscious thought under sensory deprivation. Finally, the paper concludes with a brief critical assessment. Several possibilities are considered.

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Cite This Study

Mahrad Almotahari (Mon,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/68af59ddad7bf08b1eadea14 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/monist/onaf015

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