Self, Consciousness and Neo-Idealism: exploring critical alternatives to the materialist paradigm in the promotion of mental health in higher education

Abstract

Concerns about the deteriorating mental health of university students have been researched and documented over the last few decades, and there is some evidence of an intensification of the problems as a result of the recent Covid pandemic and resulting lockdowns. The central thesis of this paper is that all such mental health problems are exacerbated by a dominant hegemonic culture of materialism which – supported and reinforced by the culture of neoliberalism – celebrates a reified conception of a solitary self divorced from the social networks which provide the conditions for psychological nourishment and mind/body wellbeing. In order to challenge such a potentially harmful culture, a process of ‘unselfing’ through a critique of the metaphysical materialism which underpins the current orthodoxy is proposed alongside a set of strategies drawn from Buddhist principles which seek to uncover the delusions which serve to bolster the neoliberal self. In conclusion, a number of changes are recommended in the form of a critical dimension which may be incorporated into learning programmes at all levels in higher education institutions with a view to enhancing mind/body wellbeing.