Abstract
It is not surprising that in a time of intensified ecological awareness a new appreciation of nature and the inanimate world arises. Two examples are panpsychism (the extension of consciousness to the cosmos) and deep incarnation (the idea that God was not only incarnated in human form but also in the non-human world). Consciousness studies flourish and are related to nature, the animal world and inorganic nature. A metaphysics of consciousness emerges, of which panpsychism is a good example. Panpsychism or panconsciousness or speculative realism endows all matter with a form of consciousness, energy and experience. The consciousness question is increasingly linked to the quantum world, which offers some option in bridging mind and reality, consciousness and matter. In this regard Kauffman’s notion of ‘triad’ is referred to as well as the implied idea of cosmic mind. This is related to the notion of ‘deep incarnation’ as introduced by Gregersen. Some analogical links are made between panpsychism and deep incarnation.
Highlights
The matter of consciousness and consciousness as matterPanpsychism is reviving in the twenty-first century
This article contains some speculation that is the inescapable outcome of dealing with speculative realism or panpsychism
This, coupled with the ‘doctrine of ideas’ – that what we immediately perceive is restricted to our own states of consciousness – leads him to the conclusion that all physical objects are systems of possible conscious perceptions, which means that matter is not mind-independent
Summary
The matter of consciousness and consciousness as matterPanpsychism is reviving in the twenty-first century. We know that consciousness needs a body to operate and mind cannot exist without brain. Panpsychism sees consciousness as typical of all matter, whether it has a brain or not, which in a way turns materialism on its head.
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