ACTION, PERCEPTION, INTENTIONALITY, CONSCIOUSNESS (A.P.I.C.)
2003-200': Experience and delusional beliefs
Delusions – beliefs entertained in spite of the fact that they contradict common sense - have been classically understood as originating in a perturbed thought process. They can take various forms. Classic schizophrenic delusions include thinking that certain people are out to get you (delusions of paranoia), thinking that people are controlling one’s actions (delusions of control) and thinking that people are inserting thoughts into one’s mind (delusions of thought-insertion). Other delusions include thinking that one is dead (Cotard’s delusion), that one’s close relatives had been replaced by doubles (Capgras delusion), and that one is being followed by persons known to one who are in disguise (Fregoli delusion). Although some delusions often resolve spontaneously after weeks or months, others – particularly schizophrenic delusions – can persist for years with debilitating consequences.
It is now hypothesized that delusions have a double origin. They presuppose anomalies in the process of belief formation and belief evaluation; but they also result from unusual perceptual states. For example, delusions of control might involve an abnormal experience of agency. This unusual experience prompts the patients to wonder whether someone else is controlling their actions; their impairment in belief-formation leads them to go on to form the belief that someone is controlling their actions.
We will discuss the respective contributions of experiential and epistemic factors in the formation of delusions. We will also focus on the dynamics of belief that allows some delusions to resist revision.
The guests of APIC this academic year will include among others M. Coltheart, J.M. Danion, M. Davies, P. Engel, G. Knoblich, J. Parnas, E Pacherie, J. Proust, S. Spence, D. Sperber. (list to be confirmed).
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