In Defence of Cosmopsychism - by Khai Wager (Hardcover)

About the Book

Critically explores cosmopsychism and its relation to cognate approaches such as panpsychism, panqualityism and perennialism.

Book Synopsis

Is the cosmos itself conscious, and could our minds be aspects of its vast, overarching consciousness?

In this ambitious and original study, Khai Wager defends cosmopsychism, the view that the universe as a whole is conscious and that individual minds like ours derive from this cosmic consciousness. Wager situates cosmopsychism within what he calls the landscape of fundamental consciousness, bringing it into productive dialogue with closely related views such as panpsychism, panqualityism, and perennialism. The result is a fresh perspective on one of philosophy's deepest puzzles: the nature and origin of consciousness.

The problem of phenomenal consciousness asks how subjective experience can emerge from non-conscious matter. Fundamental approaches reject the idea that consciousness arises from non-conscious matter, instead proposing that it is present at the most basic level of reality. Panpsychism-the most prominent such view-holds that all fundamental microphysical entities are conscious. This, however, leads to the combination problem: how do billions of micro-level minds combine to form distinct macro-level minds like ours? Cosmopsychism offers a radical alternative: rather than being formed from a combination of micro-level instances of consciousness, individual minds are partial aspects of a larger, cosmic-level consciousness. As a result, cosmopsychism sidesteps the combination problem entirely. Yet this gives rise to a new and equally pressing challenge-the derivation problem: how are individual minds derived from the cosmic consciousness?

Through rigorous and insightful analysis, Wager argues that cosmopsychism can navigate these problems and offers a compelling alternative to both physicalism and panpsychism. As such, this first book-length treatment of cosmopsychism makes an illuminating contribution to debates about the deep structure of reality and our place within it.

Review Quotes

"Panpsychism is one of the most promising ways to understand the place of mind in the cosmos. Mind did not mysteriously emerge from matter: Mind has always been there, it is located at the very origin of things. Consciousness is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of the cosmos. Wager argues that the cosmos as a whole is the only fundamental concrete object. The consciousness of the cosmos is prior to smaller sub-cosmic consciousnesses. This "priority monistic cosmopsychism" is different from most versions of panpsychism discussed in the literature. But the book achieves much more than presenting a promising new theory. Wager covers the entire logical space of different forms of panpsychism in a concise and remarkably clear presentation. The reader will find this quite useful. It might well be the best synopsis of the varieties of panpsychism available today." --Godehard Brüntrup, Professor of Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy of Language, Munich School of Philosophy, Germany.

"Despite spectacular advances in neuroscience and our understanding of the brain, consciousness still resists any explanation in scientific terms. How, exactly, does the brain generate subjectivity? In response to this persistent challenge, the last few decades have seen a remarkable resurgence of interest in views that regard consciousness as a fundamental feature of reality. Here, Khai Wager's In Defence of Cosmopsychism marks a significant advance. He offers a rigorous, remarkably clear and original defense of the view that consciousness is fundamental - but it is the cosmos itself that is the fundamental bearer of consciousness. All other conscious beings are derivative. More than that, Wager provides the most comprehensive philosophical overview to date of the whole range of recent 'consciousness first' positions: from various forms of panpsychism, which assign fundamental consciousness to the micro-constituents of the world, to the more modest pan-quality views; from Vedantic inspired radical views positing 'non-dual' consciousness, to alternative forms of cosmopsychism. His highly readable work will be invaluable to students and scholars interested in the growing movement to understand consciousness as fundamental. And it presents an important, novel form of cosmopsychism that is sure to provoke wide and lively discussion." --William Seager, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada

"The view that the universe is conscious sounds bizarre, but it is increasingly being taken seriously as a possible solution to the mystery of consciousness. In Defence of Cosmopsychism offers the most thorough, rigorous exploration of this hypothesis to date. This is an important contribution to the philosophy of consciousness." --Philip A. Goff, Professor of Philosophy, Durham University, UK

"Drawing on over 15 years of research, this remarkable book offers a comprehensive and original account of cosmopsychism-a novel, top-down approach to fundamental consciousness. Khai Wager's rigorous argument constitutes a major contribution to contemporary philosophy of mind and will shape future debates on consciousness." --Yujin Nagasawa, Professor of Philosophy and Kingfisher College Chair of the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics, University of Oklahoma, USA

"This book is a significant achievement. It is the first volume dedicated in full to a systematic development and defense of cosmopsychism, a newly emerged position in contemporary debates on mind and consciousness which, while being new to the present debate, is rooted in deep currents in the philosophical heritage of both East-Asia and the west. Khai Wager, an important contributor to the field, has done an admirable job in mapping the terrain, guiding readers through the thicket of the relevant positions and arguments, and making a compelling case for panpsychism and, in particular, cosmopsychism. A highly recommended read for anyone interested in panpsychism, cosmopsychism, and the metaphysics of mind and consciousness." --Itay Shani, Professor of Philosophy, Sun Yat Sen University, China

About the Author

Khai Wager is Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Researcher Co-Investigator on the Non-Religious Spiritual Practice and the Well-Lived Life Project at the University of Oxford, UK.