Panpsychism, pan-consciousness and the non-human turn: Rethinking being as conscious matter

• Main Author: Cornel du Toit
• Format: Article
• Language: Afrikaans
• Published: AOSIS 2016-10-01
• Series: HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
• Subjects: Panpsychism; speculative realism; the Speculative Turn; consciousness metaphysics; Galen Strawson; Stuart Kauffman; cosmic mind; Niels Gregersen; deep incarnation
• Online Access: https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/3426

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.