Max Velmans (born 27 May 1942 in Amsterdam) is a British psychologist and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London, principally known for the theory of consciousness called "reflexive monism".
Reflexive monism bridges the materialist/dualist divide by noting that, in terms of their phenomenology, experiences of the external world are none other than the physical world-as-experienced, thereby placing aspects of human consciousness in the external phenomenal world, rather than exclusively within the head or brain. A similar point of departure is adopted in much of European phenomenology. The theory then explores the consequences of this point of departure for a different understanding of various conventional ways of distinguishing mental from physical phenomena, such as internal versus external phenomena, private versus public phenomena, subjective versus objective phenomena, and the world-as-experienced versus the world as described by physics. The theory also combines facets of realism (for the existence of reality per se), with idealism (for the existence of the phenomenal world), which falls short of avowing the necessity of perception to the existence of reality per se (the principle of "esse est percipi").[1]
Velmans has around 100 publications in the area of consciousness studies in which he develops this basic point of departure into a general theory that addresses the many problems of consciousness, including Understanding Consciousness (2000, 2009), and Towards a Deeper Understanding of Consciousness (2017). In his map of prominent theories of consciousness Francisco Varela categorises Velmans' work as non-reductionist, stressing the importance of first-person accounts of the phenomenology of consciousness,[2] as well as third-person accounts of brain states and functions, which in Velmans' work are thought of as complementary.[3][4]
^Blackmore, S. (2003) Consciousness: An introduction. Hodder & Stoughton.
Blackmore, S. (2005) Conversations on Consciousness: Interviews with twenty minds. Oxford University Press.
Revonsuo, A. (2006) Inner Presence: Consciousness as a Biological Phenomenon. Cambridge: MIT Press.
^Varela, F. J. (1999) Present time consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6(2–3), 111–140.
^biem Graben, P. & Atmanspacher, H. (2009) Extending the philosophical significance of the idea of complementarity. In H. Atmanspacher and H. Primas (eds.) Recasting reality: Wolfgang Pauli’s Philosophical Ideas and Contemporary Science. Springer, pp.99–113.
^Hoche, Hans-Ulrich (2007). "Reflexive monism versus complementarism: An analysis and criticism of the conceptual groundwork of Max Velmans's reflexive model of consciousness". Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. 6 (3): 389–409. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.473.4036. doi:10.1007/s11097-006-9045-8. S2CID 6523654.
MaxVelmans (born 27 May 1942 in Amsterdam) is a British psychologist and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London, principally...
ISBN 978-1780742540. MaxVelmans (2000). "A new synthesis: Reflexive monism". Understanding consciousness. Psychology Press. ISBN 9780415224925. MaxVelmans; Understanding...
Nonphysicalist Monism, Journal of Consciousness Studies (Edited with MaxVelmans), 2012 19, No. 9-10. (2012) Scientific Approaches to the Philosophy of...
1168. doi:10.1126/science.323.5918.1168a. PMID 19251609. S2CID 6636610. MaxVelmans, Susan Schneider. "The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness" (2008)....
Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 4 June 2012. Susan Schneider & MaxVelmans (2008). "Introduction". In MaxVelmans & Susan Schneider (eds.). The Blackwell Companion...
of people despite the difficulty philosophers have had defining it. MaxVelmans proposed that the "everyday understanding of consciousness" uncontroversially...
full text on line see this Archived 2013-05-05 at the Wayback Machine. MaxVelmans (2002). "How Could Conscious Experiences Affect Brains?". Journal of...
Understanding Consciousness (2000) is a book by MaxVelmans, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London, which combines an account...
2012-02-05. Dennett, D. "Heterophenomenology Reconsidered", May 31, 2006. MaxVelmans, Heterophenomenology vs. critical phenomenology ...https://philpapers...
by tests utilizing the oscillator must also be considered). However, MaxVelmans has argued: "Libet has shown that the experienced intention to perform...
1168. doi:10.1126/science.323.5918.1168a. PMID 19251609. S2CID 6636610. MaxVelmans, Susan Schneider. "The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness" (2008)....
Levine Karl Popper Keith Frankish Kenneth M. Sayre Maurice Merleau-Ponty MaxVelmans Michael Tye Martin Heidegger Ned Block Patricia Churchland Paul Churchland...
Levine Karl Popper Keith Frankish Kenneth M. Sayre Maurice Merleau-Ponty MaxVelmans Michael Tye Martin Heidegger Ned Block Patricia Churchland Paul Churchland...
Readings, Routledge, 2003, pp. 438–457. Mark Rowlands, "Mysterianism," in MaxVelmans, Susan Schneider (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness, Wiley-Blackwell...
film, Supersapiens: the Rise of the Mind by Markus Mooslechner. (with MaxVelmans, eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers...
Science: N-Z, Index. Taylor & Francis. p. 566. ISBN 978-0415977104. MaxVelmans; Susan Schneider (15 April 2008). The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness...
action simply gets a rubber stamp of approval at the last millisecond. MaxVelmans argues however that "free won't" may turn out to need as much neural...
alongside the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad 2000 – MaxVelmans published Understanding Consciousness, arguing for reflexive monism....
Smith Liz Stanley Michael Storper Mark Tewdwr-Jones Alan Tomlinson MaxVelmans Alan Warde Christopher Webster Paul White Sue White Malcolm Wicks Antje...
Gustavsen Changing Places (thought experiment), a thought experiment by MaxVelmans Changing Places (campaign), a British consortium which aims to improve...
observed through reflection rather than amenable to empirical observation. Velmans, Max (2009). Understanding Consciousness. Routledge. ISBN 9780203882726. v...
14 October 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2022. Schneider S, Velmans M (2008). "Introduction". In Velmans M, Schneider S (eds.). The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness...
Theory of Consciousness: Predictions and Results". In Schneider, Susan; Velmans, Max (eds.). The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell...
could see the light change color before the second light is observed. Velmans argues that the cutaneous rabbit illusion, another illusion that happens...
Aleksander, Igor (2017). "Machine Consciousness". In Schneider, Susan; Velmans, Max (eds.). The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell...
Benjamin Flagg would be added and a last-minute entry, student globetrotter Velman Fitch of the University of Minnesota. A Chinese messboy, a Chinese bosun...
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