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Mapping Husserlian Phenomenology onto Active Inference

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Active Inference (IWAI 2022)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1721))

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Abstract

Phenomenology is the rigorous descriptive study of conscious experience. Recent attempts to formalize Husserlian phenomenology provide us with a mathematical model of perception as a function of prior knowledge and expectation. In this paper, we re-examine elements of Husserlian phenomenology through the lens of active inference. In doing so, we aim to advance the project of computational phenomenology, as recently outlined by proponents of active inference. We propose that key aspects of Husserl’s descriptions of consciousness can be mapped onto aspects of the generative models associated with the active inference approach. We first briefly review active inference. We then discuss Husserl’s phenomenology, with a focus on time consciousness. Finally, we present our mapping from Husserlian phenomenology to active inference.

M. J. D. Ramstead and J. Yoshimi—These authors contributed equally.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In this paper we are mapping from one complex domain to another complex domain: active inference is a complex and growing area, as is Husserl scholarship [26]. Within Husserl scholarship, it is inevitable that we rely on existing interpretations, which are subject to scholarly dispute. This is a first sketch of the broad outlines of the mapping, that we aim to enrich in later work. For example, there are number of potential correlates of retention and protention in active inference discussed below, and further work is needed clearly delineating these.

  2. 2.

    We will not be concerned here with the thorny issues that attend the naturalization of phenomenology [3]. See [5, 28, 29] for a review.

  3. 3.

    In this, Husserl is aligned with other philosophers of his time, including James [34] and Bergson [35, 36]. A detailed historical analysis of the many sources of and precedents for Husserl’s account of time consciousness is [37].

  4. 4.

    The question of what exactly hyletic data are is a matter of controversy. We rely on a reading derived from Føllesdal [38], who says “In acts of perception our senses play a role, providing certain boundary conditions.” They “limit” what we can experience in a moment, without being directly experienced (they must be animated or interpreted by noetic form before they are experienced).

  5. 5.

    Technically, computational phenomenology is a version of generative modeling that is agnostic about whether the models at play are real descriptions of the actual processes at play in agents, or whether these models are merely useful heuristics to model first-person experience. See [5] for a discussion. Of note, the work presented in this paper dovetails nicely with realist approaches the implementation of generative models by agents,; see integrated world modelling theory as proposed in [2].

  6. 6.

    A fuller discussion would also involve a comparison with existing discussions of the naturalization of time-consciousness, such as [44] and [45].

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Philippe Blouin, Laurence Kirmayer, Magnus Koudahl, Antoine Lutz, Jonas Mago, Jelena Rosic, Anil Seth, Lars Sandved Smith, Dalton Sakthivadivel, and the members of the VERSES Research Lab for useful discussions that shaped the contents of the paper. Special thanks are due to Juan Diego Bogotá, Zak Djebbara, and Karl Friston.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. VERSES Research Lab, Los Angeles, CA, 90016, USA

    Mahault Albarracin, Riddhi J. Pitliya & Maxwell J. D. Ramstead

  2. Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Mahault Albarracin

  3. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Riddhi J. Pitliya

  4. Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, WC1N 3AR, UK

    Maxwell J. D. Ramstead

  5. University of California, Merced, 5200 Lake Rd, Merced, CA, 95343, USA

    Jeffrey Yoshimi

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  1. Mahault Albarracin
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Correspondence to Mahault Albarracin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

    Christopher L. Buckley

  2. University of Chieti-Pescara, Pescara, Italy

    Daniela Cialfi

  3. Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Pablo Lanillos

  4. Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, London, UK

    Maxwell Ramstead

  5. Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, London, UK

    Noor Sajid

  6. Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Hideaki Shimazaki

  7. Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Tim Verbelen

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Albarracin, M., Pitliya, R.J., Ramstead, M.J.D., Yoshimi, J. (2023). Mapping Husserlian Phenomenology onto Active Inference. In: Buckley, C.L., et al. Active Inference. IWAI 2022. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1721. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28719-0_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28719-0_7

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