Recently, as you might have noticed, I have taken an interest in the philosophy of mind. I am increasingly convinced that consciousness is not some mysterious ‘extra’ thing which emerges from physical activity, but that it is somehow part of the foundational structure of the universe.
I am not the first to believe this: there is a long history of such thinking dating back to the presocratics (Thales believed “all things are full of gods”) and the Sanskrit Vedic traditions which constitute our oldest extant religious scripture. Yet there are a multitude of ways to interpret such a hypothesis. Is the universe made up of tiny balls of simple consciousness, as the panpsychist says? Or is the universe itself one great big mind, as the idealist says? Does matter exist separately to mental substance?
Since beginning to engage with such ideas online, one of the most requested guests for Within Reason has been Bernardo Kastrup. Dr. Kastrup is a philosopher of mind known for developing a view called “analytical idealism”. He believes that materialism is perhaps the most ridiculous and impossible philosophical position to hold, and that the universe is made entirely of mental states. Where the materialist believes that mental states are somehow made of matter, Kastrup believes that “matter” is just what a mental state looks like from the outside.
I learned a great deal while preparing for and in conducting this interview. I hope this episode passes on some of that to you.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - What is the World Really Made Of?
7:11 - Qualities vs Quantities
9:45 - Can Materialism Explain Anything?
25:06 - Is There More Than What We Perceive?
33:57 - Can We Exist Without a Brain?
42:15 - What is Personhood?
48:35 - Consciousness is not the Self
54:46 - Why is Mental Activity Localised?
01:10:39 - Why Panpsychism Doesn’t Make Sense
01:22:20 - Distinguishing Idealism and Panpsychism
01:32:20 - Are There Distinctions Between Material Objects?
01:39:14 - The Illusion of the Self
01:46:16 - The Biggest Misunderstanding of Analytical Idealism
