The Powerful and Pervasive Mind: A Case for Dispositional Panpsychism

Lead Research Organisation: Durham University
Department Name: Philosophy

Abstract

My project aims to give an account of consciousness that can explain its existence and causal activity. The majority view in contemporary philosophy is that consciousness depends for its existence and activity on physical properties. However, many philosophers have challenged whether we can give an explanation of consciousness in non-conscious terms. An alternative approach is panpsychism: the thesis that
consciousness is fundamental and present in every material entity. I will defend a novel version of panpsychism that considers consciousness as an intrinsically active property which, although present in every material entity, manifests as experience only in organisms.

Publications

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