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Max Velmans
Max Velmans is a British psychologist and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London, principally known for the theory of consciousness called "reflexive monism".
Reflexive monism bridges the materialist/dualist divide by noting that, in terms of their phenomenology, experiences of the external world are none other than the physical world-as-experienced, thereby placing aspects of human consciousness in the external phenomenal world, rather than exclusively within the head or brain. A similar point of departure is adopted in much of European phenomenology. The theory then explores the consequences of this point of departure for a different understanding of various conventional ways of distinguishing mental from physical phenomena, such as internal versus external phenomena, private versus public phenomena, subjective versus objective phenomena, and the world-as-experienced versus the world as described by physics. The theory also combines facets of realism (for the existence of reality per se), with idealism (for the existence of the phenomenal world), which falls short of avowing the necessity of perception to the existence of reality per se (the principle of "esse est percipi").
Velmans has around 100 publications in the area of consciousness studies in which he develops this basic point of departure into a general theory that addresses the many problems of consciousness, including Understanding Consciousness (2000, 2009), and Towards a Deeper Understanding of Consciousness (2017). In his map of prominent theories of consciousness Francisco Varela categorises Velmans' work as non-reductionist, stressing the importance of first-person accounts of the phenomenology of consciousness, as well as third-person accounts of brain states and functions, which in Velmans' work are thought of as complementary.
Born in Amsterdam, Velmans grew up in Sydney, Australia. After attending Sydney Boy's High School, he studied Electrical Engineering at St. Andrews College at the University of Sydney, where he received his B.Eng in 1963. In the evening he attended psychology classes at the University of Sydney for another two years, before moving to Europe. After several years of research and development he received his PhD in Psychology from Bedford College in 1974. After his graduation in 1963 Velmans had started his career designing electrical circuits at the electronics laboratory of the Australian engineering company EMAIL Ltd.
Velmans began his academic teaching career at The City University, London, in 1967, and joined Goldsmiths, University of London, in 1969. Over the next three decades, he held teaching and research roles focusing on cognitive psychology, language, memory, attention, philosophy of science, and consciousness studies. His undergraduate course “The Psychology of Consciousness,” taught over 25 years, was one of the earliest mainstream UK university courses dedicated to consciousness. Velmans co-founded the Consciousness and Experiential Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society in 1994, and served as its chair from 2003 to 2006.
In 1997 he was awarded a Fellowship of the British Psychological Society and in 2011 was elected to a Fellowship of the British Academy of Social Sciences. He was appointed Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths in 2006. Between 2007 and 2014, he held the position of Visiting Professor of Consciousness Studies at the University of Plymouth. In 2011–2012, he was appointed National Visiting Professor by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, under the Ministry of Human Resources, Government of India. Velmans has also been a Visiting Professor at the University of Westminster and was a Senior Fulbright Scholar and Research Associate at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1984. In 1997, he was a faculty member of the University of Arizona’s online “Dialogues on Consciousness” course.
During the early phase of his academic career, Velmans made a contribution to auditory science through the invention and development of an innovative hearing aid designed to assist individuals with sensorineural hearing loss.
While a postgraduate student at Bedford College, University of London, in 1970, Velmans devised a frequency-transposing hearing aid, later named FRED (Frequency Recognition and Enhancement Device). This device was specifically designed to aid individuals with little or no residual hearing above 4 kHz by shifting high-frequency sounds into lower, more audible frequency ranges. The goal was to expand the detectable auditory spectrum and thereby improve the perception of speech and environmental sounds for the hearing impaired.
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Max Velmans
Max Velmans is a British psychologist and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London, principally known for the theory of consciousness called "reflexive monism".
Reflexive monism bridges the materialist/dualist divide by noting that, in terms of their phenomenology, experiences of the external world are none other than the physical world-as-experienced, thereby placing aspects of human consciousness in the external phenomenal world, rather than exclusively within the head or brain. A similar point of departure is adopted in much of European phenomenology. The theory then explores the consequences of this point of departure for a different understanding of various conventional ways of distinguishing mental from physical phenomena, such as internal versus external phenomena, private versus public phenomena, subjective versus objective phenomena, and the world-as-experienced versus the world as described by physics. The theory also combines facets of realism (for the existence of reality per se), with idealism (for the existence of the phenomenal world), which falls short of avowing the necessity of perception to the existence of reality per se (the principle of "esse est percipi").
Velmans has around 100 publications in the area of consciousness studies in which he develops this basic point of departure into a general theory that addresses the many problems of consciousness, including Understanding Consciousness (2000, 2009), and Towards a Deeper Understanding of Consciousness (2017). In his map of prominent theories of consciousness Francisco Varela categorises Velmans' work as non-reductionist, stressing the importance of first-person accounts of the phenomenology of consciousness, as well as third-person accounts of brain states and functions, which in Velmans' work are thought of as complementary.
Born in Amsterdam, Velmans grew up in Sydney, Australia. After attending Sydney Boy's High School, he studied Electrical Engineering at St. Andrews College at the University of Sydney, where he received his B.Eng in 1963. In the evening he attended psychology classes at the University of Sydney for another two years, before moving to Europe. After several years of research and development he received his PhD in Psychology from Bedford College in 1974. After his graduation in 1963 Velmans had started his career designing electrical circuits at the electronics laboratory of the Australian engineering company EMAIL Ltd.
Velmans began his academic teaching career at The City University, London, in 1967, and joined Goldsmiths, University of London, in 1969. Over the next three decades, he held teaching and research roles focusing on cognitive psychology, language, memory, attention, philosophy of science, and consciousness studies. His undergraduate course “The Psychology of Consciousness,” taught over 25 years, was one of the earliest mainstream UK university courses dedicated to consciousness. Velmans co-founded the Consciousness and Experiential Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society in 1994, and served as its chair from 2003 to 2006.
In 1997 he was awarded a Fellowship of the British Psychological Society and in 2011 was elected to a Fellowship of the British Academy of Social Sciences. He was appointed Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths in 2006. Between 2007 and 2014, he held the position of Visiting Professor of Consciousness Studies at the University of Plymouth. In 2011–2012, he was appointed National Visiting Professor by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, under the Ministry of Human Resources, Government of India. Velmans has also been a Visiting Professor at the University of Westminster and was a Senior Fulbright Scholar and Research Associate at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1984. In 1997, he was a faculty member of the University of Arizona’s online “Dialogues on Consciousness” course.
During the early phase of his academic career, Velmans made a contribution to auditory science through the invention and development of an innovative hearing aid designed to assist individuals with sensorineural hearing loss.
While a postgraduate student at Bedford College, University of London, in 1970, Velmans devised a frequency-transposing hearing aid, later named FRED (Frequency Recognition and Enhancement Device). This device was specifically designed to aid individuals with little or no residual hearing above 4 kHz by shifting high-frequency sounds into lower, more audible frequency ranges. The goal was to expand the detectable auditory spectrum and thereby improve the perception of speech and environmental sounds for the hearing impaired.