School #16

Panpsychism

Leibniz, Whitehead

Panpsychism is the view that consciousness, mind, or soul is a universal and primordial feature of all things. This view suggests that everything has a mental aspect.

I. Time

Extent Infinite
Ontological Status Emergent
Grain Continuous
Freedom Non-Deterministic
Traversability Linear
Dimensionality One
Direction Uni-directional

Time is emergent — it arises from the experiential processes that pervade all of reality. Since mind is universal, temporal experience is not confined to human consciousness but extends to all entities. Time is continuous, linear, and uni-directional, reflecting the universal process of experience. Its extent is infinite because experiential reality has no temporal boundary.

II. Space

Extent Finite
Ontological Status Emergent
Curvature Flat
Dimensionality Three
Locality Local

Space is emergent — it is the medium through which experiential entities relate to one another. It is flat, finite, local, and three-dimensional in its macro-level structure, but at every point in space there exists some degree of experiential quality. Space is thus "filled" with mind in a way that pure materialism does not allow.

III. Matter

Extent Finite
Ontological Status Emergent
Conservation Conserved
Dimensionality Three
Locality Local

Matter is emergent — it is the exterior aspect of something that has an interior, experiential aspect. Every material entity, from electrons to brains, possesses some form of proto-consciousness or experience. Matter is conserved and local, but its intrinsic nature is mental rather than purely physical. The "hard problem" of consciousness dissolves because consciousness is a fundamental feature of all matter.

IV. Observer

Time Instance Multiple
Space Instance Multiple
Extent of Knowledge Total
Retainment of Knowledge Total
Physicality Embodied
Agency Active
Number Plural
Time Instance: Multiple — consciousness is a fundamental feature of all reality and pervades all of time; the observer is not restricted to a single moment
Space Instance: Multiple — mind or consciousness exists at every point in space; the observer is not spatially confined
Extent of Knowledge: Total — as consciousness is universal, the totality of experience across space and time is in principle accessible
Retainment of Knowledge: Total — as a universal feature of reality, conscious experience is permanently retained in the fabric of existence

V. Energy

Extent Finite
Ontological Status Emergent
Conservation Conserved
Dispersibility Irreversible

Energy is emergent — it characterizes the dynamical relations among experiential entities. Conservation holds as a feature of the physical description, but the intrinsic nature of energy is experiential. Dispersibility is irreversible in the physical description, though the experiential character of energy transformations may have dimensions that physics alone cannot capture.

VI. Information

Ontological Status Substantival
Conservation Conserved
Granularity Continuous

Information is intrinsic to all matter — integrated information theory identifies consciousness with integrated information. Every physical system carries some information and some degree of experience.

← #15 Dualism All Schools #17 Pragmatic Realism →

Jump to school

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20 #21 #22 #23 #24 #25 #26 #27 #28 #29 #30 #31 #32 #33 #34 #35 #36 #37 #38 #39 #40 #41 #42 #43 #44 #45 #46 #47 #48 #49 #50 #51 #52 #53 #54 #55 #56 #57 #58 #59 #60 #61