Theology - Is Religion Really Meant to Be Interpreted Literally?

5min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Religion was never meant to be interpreted literally, says Michael am. He argues that our cognitive categories are formed through perception. And if we were able to see and hear and smell without any of the sense organs - then nature would be incredibly superfluous. But at the same time, i don't dismiss this outright, because i think there is something else going on here. I'm more receptive to a different way of regarding this than some people have suggested.

In this expansive conversation, Michael Shermer speaks with Bernardo Kastrup, the executive director of Essentia Foundation. His work has been leading the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another Ph.D. in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). Shermer and Kastrup discuss: materialism, idealism, dualism, monism, panpsychism, free will, determinism, consciousness, the problem of other minds, artificial intelligence, out of body and near-death experiences, model dependent realism, and the ultimate nature of reality.