Panpsychism asserts that every spatio-temporal thing has a mental, or experiential, aspect. There might be varying degrees in which things have this inner subjective or quasi-conscious attribute, which could be very different to what we experience as consciousness, and only things approaching the complexity of human beings would have full-blown minds.
Admittedly, it is hard to figure out exactly to what extents all spatio-temporal things would have an inner 'mental' aspect within what would be a vast hierarchy. But panpsychists maintain this is the case because they do not see how consciousness can be caused by, or composed from, 'inert' matter.
Panpsychism: The Philosophy of the Sensuous Cosmos, by Peter Ells, is a welcome introduction to a subject that's little-discussed in the hallowed halls of philosophical disputation. Ells, with his concept of idealist panpsychism – which takes minds as being fundamental and revamps 'matter' as being nothing more than the empirical existence of minds to other minds – proves that the subject deserves much more attention.
Attempts to Understand the Nature of Consciousness
This is especially true within consciousness studies, to which Ells is a keen contributor, for the implications of idealist panpsychism for our attempts to understand the nature of consciousness are profound. Indeed, it removes the need to explain consciousness, as such, because it is seen as fundamental to the universe. But it does suggest that field theories of consciousness are on the right track.
Ells is at pains to point out that the materialist or physicalist metaphor is that the universe and everything in it, including ourselves, is a deterministic machine, 'trapped from the beginning to the end of time on the rigid tracks of inviolable laws'.
Physicalism has almost universal acceptance today because it is regarded as being synonymous with science. Ultimately, however, it is a defeatist and pessimistic scenario under which only the mechanisms of physics are important, and nothing else matters; everything concerning the mind is an illusion. Ells argues convincingly that physicalism is a 'failed philosophical position' within which it is demonstrably impossible to explain consciousness.
'We Are Essentially a Community of Spiritual Beings'
But in the sensuous cosmos, the essence of our being is that we can we experience the world in all its beauty and suffering – a world in which we actively participate as rational agents with authentic freedom. 'We are essentially a community of spiritual beings, interacting with one another and with other beings, all of them spiritual,' says Ells.
This is an optimistic and existentially satisfying stance which chimes with many people's deepest intuitions. Our Faustian pact with materialism has surely lasted long enough, and Ells offers a plausible way out of the cultural cul de sac, without the scientist or the philosopher losing face, if only habitual ways of thinking can be changed.
Ells is to be commended for weaving his own heartfelt experiences (he is a Quaker) into the fabric of an important philosophical work notable for its analytical and critical flair and rigour, and which provides an indispensable new perspective on the ultimate questions of life and existence.
- Ells, Peter, Panpsychism: The Philosophy of the Sensuous Cosmos. O-Books, 2011. UK £12.99 / US $22.95. ISBN 979-1-84694-505-2.
Geoff Ward - Geoff Ward, MA Lit., is a British journalist, media consultant, author and lecturer/tutor in literature and creative writing
