Abstract
Many mystical figures have proclaimed our abiding nature to be a pure consciousness that turns out to underlie what we take to be the world. While often dismissed as other-worldly, my contention is that this central claim can be developed into a robust metaphysical position that is not only internally coherent, but shows great promise in addressing the mind-body problem. In this paper I will summarize some of my thinking on this. After first recapping elements of the mind-body debate, I will introduce and describe the position as a variant of panpsychism that I call ‘Perennial Idealism’, arguing that it does not fall prey to the explanatory gaps that plague its predecessors.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Philosophers on Consciousness |
| Subtitle of host publication | Talking about the Mind |
| Editors | Jack Symes |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury |
| Chapter | 12 |
| Pages | 141–152 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-1-3501-9045-0 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-1-3501-9042-9, 978-1-3501-9041-2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 |