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The ontology of hallucination: form and meaning
Dissertation (MA) University of Pretoria, 2026.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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University of Pretoria
2026
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| _version_ | 1869483872155074560 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Matalino, Bernard |
| author_browse | Matalino, Bernard |
| author_facet | Matalino, Bernard |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2024 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Dissertation (MA) University of Pretoria, 2026. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/108192 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-07-01T04:05:53.810Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/108192 The ontology of hallucination: form and meaning Matalino, Bernard aaronday899@gmail.com Day, Aaron UCTD Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Ontology Hallucination Dissertation (MA) University of Pretoria, 2026. Contemporary Western philosophical discourse on the ontology of hallucination is primarily shaped byseveral dominant theories, including conjunctivism, relationalism, and, most notably, disjunctivism.These theories, while differing in their specific philosophical nuances, share fundamental ‘physicalist’metaphysical and ‘naïve realist’ epistemological underpinnings, forming the two hooks of what I refer toas an ‘epistemic-ontic anchor’. This anchor, functioning as the 'positive unconscious' of the discourse,defines hallucination negatively as lacking any ontological or ‘reality’ status, and as essentially distinctfrom 'veridical' perception which alone is taken to hold ontological epistemological value. Thisframework, per force, leads to the pathologization and dismissal of rich non-habitual experiences likethose found in psychosis or mystical states. The dissertation aims to critically examine these foundationalassumptions that constrain the very possibility and definition of hallucination within current theoreticallandscapes. The central problem investigated is: Do the two sides of 'epistemic-ontic anchor' hold upunder critical appraisal through modern science and philosophy, thereby legitimizing the negativedefinition of hallucination and its pathologizing implications? To answer this question, a critical multi-disciplinary approach will be undertaken, leveraging the approaches of 1) Donald Hoffman's InterfaceTheory of Perception (ITP) from evolutionary psychology; 2) contemporary neuroscientific theories,particularly Predictive Processing (PP); 3) Carlo Rovelli's Relational Quantum Mechanics (RQM); andfinally, 4) various philosophical schools/thinkers with a particular emphasis on Arthur Schopenhauer andShankara of Advaita Vedānta.Keywords:Hallucination, Ontology, Disjunctivism, Relational Quantum Mechanics, Interface Theory of Perception,Predictive Processing, Schopenhauer, Advaita Vedānta Philosophy MA Philosophy Unrestricted Faculty of Humanities None 2026-02-13T05:44:39Z 2026-02-13T05:44:39Z 2026-05-01 2026-11-07 Dissertation * May 2026 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/108192 Disclaimer Letter en © 2024 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Ontology Hallucination The ontology of hallucination: form and meaning |
| title | The ontology of hallucination: form and meaning |
| title_full | The ontology of hallucination: form and meaning |
| title_fullStr | The ontology of hallucination: form and meaning |
| title_full_unstemmed | The ontology of hallucination: form and meaning |
| title_short | The ontology of hallucination: form and meaning |
| title_sort | ontology of hallucination form and meaning |
| topic | UCTD Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Ontology Hallucination |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/108192 |