The Existential Passage Hypothesis

[Excerpt from “Section 1: Summary of the conclusions”] In Chapter 9, Stewart defends the thesis that if non-reductive physicalism is true, then, contrary to a widespread belief, death does not bring about eternal oblivion, a permanent cessation of the stream of consciousness at the moment of death. Stewart argues that the stream of consciousness continues after death—devoid of the body’s former memories and personality traits—and it does so as the stream of consciousness of new, freshly conscious bodies (other humans, animals, etc., that are conceived and develop consciousness). And so, any permanent cessation of the stream of consciousness at the moment of death is impossible as long as new, freshly conscious bodies come to exist. Consciousness is defined here as awareness, and is not limited to self-awareness (i.e., the recognition of one’s awareness). This general thesis does not specify when in the future those new, freshly conscious bodies must have come into being. This thesis has been independently defended by several authors

Founding quantum theory on the basis of consciousness

In the present work, quantum theory is founded on the framework of consciousness, in contrast to earlier suggestions that consciousness might be understood starting from quantum theory. The notion of streams of consciousness, usually restricted to conscious beings, is extended to the notion of a Universal/Global stream of conscious flow of ordered events. The streams of conscious events which we experience constitute sub-streams of the Universal stream. Our postulated ontological character of consciousness also consists of an operator which acts on a state of potential consciousness to create or modify the likelihoods for later events to occur and become part of the Universal conscious flow. A generalized process of measurement-perception is introduced, where the operation of consciousness brings into existence, from a state of potentiality, the event in consciousness. This is mathematically represented by (a) an operator acting on the state of potential-consciousness before an actual event arises in consciousness and (b) the reflecting of the result of this operation back onto the state of potential-consciousness for comparison in order for the event to arise in consciousness. Beginning from our postulated ontology that consciousness is primary and from the most elementary conscious contents, such as perception of periodic change and motion, quantum theory follows naturally as the description of the conscious experience.Comment: 41 pages, 3 figures. To be published in Foundations of Physics, Vol 36 (6) (June 2006), published online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10701-006-9049-

A Stream of Consciousness

https://scholar.dsu.edu/research-symposium/1002/thumbnail.jp

Virginia Woolf: An Exponent of the Stream-of-Consciousness Novel

The writer proposes to: 1. clearly define and point out the characteristics of the stream-of-consciousness novel; 2. show the biographical factors influencing Virginia Woolf\u27s performance in the stream-of-consciousness and 3. show through the analysis of four novels, Jacob\u27s Room, Mrs. Dalloway, To The Lighthouse, and The Waves, that these works exemplify the characteristics of the stream-of-consciousness novel. The research is limited to the four novels listed above, which the writer will attempt to prove illustrate the stream-of-consciousness techniques. The writer is aware of the other works of the author which do not seem to fall into this class and therefore will not come within the province of this study

James Joyce’s Epiphany and Virginia Woolf’s “Moment of Importance”

In English literature, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf are the two best-known novelists of the “stream of consciousness”. Joyce’s novels are written in accordance with his theory of “epiphanies” and Virginia Woolf’s works are characterized by the “moment of importance”. Both writing techniques are characteristic of stream of consciousness in modern fiction yet there are some similarities and differences between them. This paper tries to make such a comparison.Key words: Stream of consciousness; Epiphany; Moment of importanc

The Impact of Collaborative Writing and The Stream of Consciousness Technique on Writing

This experimental research study attempted to examine the effectiveness of an advanced writing course integrating the stream of consciousness technique and collaborative writing. The writing course was designed for eleven undergraduate English as foreign language students studying at the English language teaching department. Adopting a mixed methods research design, qualitative and quantitative data were used to answer the research questions. Qualitative data were gathered from pre and post-intervention interviews and the quantitative data from the pre and post-tests. The results revealed that a great majority of the participants made considerable progress in terms of creativity and overall writing performance. The fact that the intervention was effective was apparent in a great majority of the participants’ preference for collaborative writing over individual writing and all participants’ preference for the stream of consciousness technique over traditional writing modes. In terms of the use of the stream of consciousness technique and collaborative writing, it was found that collaborative writing was a more pleasing experience. It was also found that due to the intervention they not only made good progress in terms of their writing skills but also their attitudes changed in a positive way towards writing

Shangles: A Stream of Consciousness

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the Shangle. Shangle is a term devised by my grandfather during the course of a practical joke. Years after his death, I look to define and explore the ramifications and possibilities of a shangle. I describe how the pursuit of a shangle has allowed for an evolution of my art-making methodologies and concerns. My artwork draws from my interests in humor, culture, materiality, personal anecdotes, and a pervasive need to find the edge of my artwork. My artwork toes the line between fictional narrative and the violent reality of everyday life. I believe artwork has the power to shift how people see the world, but in order to do so, the experience and process of making an artwork needs to first change the artist