The ancient presocratic Greek philosopher Thales is said to have believed that ‘all things are full of gods’. In particular he seemed to have derived this from the strange behaviour of magnets, which have an inexplicable will-like tendency to move towards each other.
Today, many see this view as an ancient form of the view that consciousness—or mentality, or divine spirit, or whatever—pervades the universe at its most fundamental level. Such an idea has been captured in various religious traditions, even including monotheistic traditions like Christianity.
David Bentley Hart is a philosopher and theologian, and one of this podcast’s most requested guests. His works span theology, christology, fiction, and philosophy of mind; his second most recent book is named after Thales’ claim, and investigates the nature of consciousness and its place in our world.
He joins me for nearly two hours to discuss this question, and my paying Substack supporters, as always, have it early.
Looking forward to your comments!
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Are All Things Full of Gods?
8:19 - Subjectivity and the Scientific Third Person
17:31 - What is the Materialistic Worldview?
27:20 - Consciousness of the Gaps?
36:56 - What’s Wrong with Emergence?
58:53 - Why Panpsychism is False
01:09:00 - Is There a Fundamental Unit of Consciousness?
01:21:43 - Why Are There Individual Selves?
01:26:18 - What’s Special About the Brain?
01:39:10 - Where Does the Self Go After Death?
