Sweet dreams are made of this? A HOT response to Sebastián

Abstract

Sebastián (this issue) argues that data from dream research undermines a prominent version of the higher-order representation theory of consciousness. In this commentary, I argue that Sebastián’s attack falls short, for three main reasons. First, the data from dream studies is notoriously hard to interpret, leaving ample space for the higher-order theorist to contest Sebastián’s claims. Second, even accepting the dream data as given, there is still enough brain activity present in the dreaming brain to vindicate higher-order claims. And third, it is not clear that the higher-order theory must be committed to the anatomical claims exposing it to Sebastián’s critique.