The Research Seminar Series in Philosophy invites you to a seminar with Fabiana Caserta, "Rethinking reality in derealization".
Abstract: In recent years, a number of accounts have proposed that derealization (a dissociative experience often described as the world seeming unreal, unfamiliar, and distant) involves a disruption in what is often called “perceptual presence” or “sense of reality”, though these notions are variously construed. In this talk, I focus on one such account, which holds that the characteristic feeling of unreality in derealization reflects a failure to experience perceptual objects and events as mind-independent. I argue that this view encounters conceptual difficulties, and I raise three objections that put its plausibility into question. I conclude by proposing a two-factor desideratum for theories of derealization, suggesting that experiential dimensions such as felt presence and unreality should not be presumed to attach solely to the perception of external objects.
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