Aphantasia is a recently discovered disorder characterised by the total incapacity to generate visual forms of mental imagery. This paper proposes that aphantasia raises important theoretical concerns for the ongoing debate in the philosophy and science of consciousness over the nature of dreams. Recent studies of aphantasia and its neurobehavioral correlates reveal that the majority of aphantasics, whilst unable to produce visual imagery while awake, nevertheless retain the capacity to experience rich visual dreams. This finding constitutes a novel explanandum for theories of dreaming. Specifically, I argue that the recent dream reports of aphantasics constitute an empirical challenge to the emerging family of views which claim that dreams are essentially imaginative experiences, constitutively involving the kinds of mental imagery which aphantasics, ex-hypothesi, lack. After presenting this challenge in the context of Jonathan Ichikawa’s recent arguments for this view, I argue that this empirical challenge may be overcome if the imagination theorist abandons Ichikawa’s account of dreaming in favour of a modified version. This involves the claim that dreams are essentially inactive and constitutively involve non voluntary forms of imagination. I conclude with a suggestion for further research which can test the viability of this alternative hypothesis, and move the debate forward.

中文翻译：

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Aphantasia，想象力和梦想

Aphantasia 是一种最近发现的疾病，其特征是完全无法产生视觉形式的心理意象。本文提出，对于意识哲学和意识科学中正在进行的关于梦的本质的争论，幻觉引发了重要的理论关注。最近对 aphantasia 及其神经行为相关性的研究表明，大多数 aphantasics 虽然无法在清醒时产生视觉图像，但仍能体验丰富的视觉梦境。这一发现为梦的理论提供了新的解释。具体来说，我认为最近关于 aphantasics 的梦境报告构成了对新兴观点家族的实证挑战，这些观点声称梦境本质上是想象的体验，构成性地涉及幻象学、前假设、缺乏的心理意象种类。在 Jonathan Ichikawa 最近为这一观点提出的论点中提出了这一挑战之后，我认为，如果想象力理论家放弃 Ichikawa 对梦的描述而支持修改版本，那么这一经验挑战可能会被克服。这涉及到梦想本质上是非活动的，并且在本质上涉及非自愿形式的想象。最后，我提出了一项进一步研究的建议，该研究可以测试这一替代假设的可行性，并推动辩论向前发展。我认为，如果想象理论家放弃市川对梦的描述而支持修改版本，那么这个经验挑战可能会被克服。这涉及到梦想本质上是非活动的，并且在本质上涉及非自愿形式的想象。最后，我提出了一项进一步研究的建议，该研究可以测试这一替代假设的可行性，并推动辩论向前发展。我认为，如果想象理论家放弃市川对梦的描述而支持修改版本，那么这个经验挑战可能会被克服。这涉及到梦想本质上是非活动的，并且在本质上涉及非自愿形式的想象。最后，我提出了一项进一步研究的建议，该研究可以测试这一替代假设的可行性，并推动辩论向前发展。