

Philip Goff on panpsychism | Living Mirrors #77
Dec 15, 2021
Philip Goff, a philosopher and consciousness researcher at Durham University, dives deep into panpsychism, the idea that consciousness is fundamental to the universe. He discusses how consciousness intertwines with thought and self-awareness, and challenges conventional views on its measurement in science. Goff advocates for integrating the qualitative aspects of consciousness, exploring philosophical ramifications beyond Galileo's ideas. The conversation touches on the nature of consciousness across entities, and what it might mean for personal identity and life after death.
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What Is Consciousness?
- Consciousness is defined as subjective experience or what it feels like to be a particular organism.
- It does not require language, self-reflection, or sophisticated thought processes to be considered consciousness.
Qualities Clash with Physical Science
- Phenomenal consciousness involves subjective qualities that physical science's quantitative language cannot capture.
- Neuroscientific explanations struggle to explain why and how subjective experiences have their qualitative character.
Galileo's Error in Science
- Galileo set physical science to exclude consciousness to enable purely mathematical scientific description.
- Because science excludes consciousness, expecting it to fully explain consciousness may be misguided.