Recently, philosophers with an interest in consciousness have turned their attention towards ‘fringe states of consciousness’. Examples include dreams, trances, and meditative states. Teetering between wakefulness and non-consciousness, fringe states illuminate the limits and boundaries of consciousness. This paper aims to give a coherent conceptualization of deep meditative states, focussing in particular on phenomenal temporality during meditation. Advanced meditators overwhelmingly describe deep states of meditation as atemporal and timeless; however, they also report being continuously alert while meditating. I intend to give a coherent interpretation of this apparent contradiction. After introducing some candidate interpretations, I shall argue that during (deepest) meditation, the subject experiences ‘pure duration’ without temporal structure. This, I argue, explains best why meditators describe deep meditation as ongoing but timeless awareness. A central part of the paper will expand on an account of phenomenal duration without phenomenal succession. The conclusion points towards some further avenues of research.

中文翻译：

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 没有时间的意识


最近，对意识感兴趣的哲学家将注意力转向“意识的边缘状态”。例子包括梦、恍惚状态和冥想状态。边缘状态在清醒和无意识之间摇摇欲坠，照亮了意识的界限和边界。本文旨在对深度冥想状态给出一个连贯的概念，特别关注冥想过程中的现象时间性。高级冥想者绝大多数将冥想的深层状态描述为非时间性和永恒的。然而，他们也表示在冥想时始终保持警惕。我打算对这个明显的矛盾给出一个连贯的解释。在介绍了一些候选解释之后，我将论证在（最深的）冥想期间，主体体验到没有时间结构的“纯粹持续时间”。我认为，这最好地解释了为什么冥想者将深度冥想描述为持续但永恒的意识。本文的核心部分将扩展对现象持续时间的描述，但没有现象连续性。结论指出了一些进一步的研究途径。