View that mind is a fundamental feature of reality
Illustration of the Neoplatonic concept of the anima mundi emanating from The Absolute , in some ways a precursor to modern panpsychism
In the philosophy of mind , panpsychism () is the view that the mind or a mind-like aspect is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of reality.[ 1] It is also described as a theory that "the mind is a fundamental feature of the world which exists throughout the universe".[ 2] It is one of the oldest philosophical theories, and has been ascribed to philosophers including Thales , Plato , Spinoza , Leibniz , William James ,[ 3] Alfred North Whitehead , Bertrand Russell , and Galen Strawson .[ 1] In the 19th century, panpsychism was the default philosophy of mind in Western thought, but it saw a decline in the mid-20th century with the rise of logical positivism .[ 3] [ 4] Recent interest in the hard problem of consciousness , and developments in the fields of neuroscience , psychology , and quantum mechanics have revived interest in panpsychism in the 21st century.[ 4] [ 5] [ 6]
^ a b Goff, Philip ; Seager, William; Allen-Hermanson, Sean (2017). "Panpsychism" . In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . Retrieved September 15, 2018 .
^ Bruntrup, Godehard; Jaskolla, Ludwig (2017). Panpsychism: Contemporary Perspectives . New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 365. ISBN 978-0-19-935994-3 .
^ a b Koch, Christof (January 1, 2014). "Is Consciousness Universal?" . Scientific American . doi :10.1038/scientificamericanmind0114-26 . Retrieved September 13, 2018 .
^ a b Cite error: The named reference Seager
was invoked but never defined (see the help page ).
^ Goff, Philip (2017). "The Case for Panpsychism" . Philosophy Now . Retrieved October 3, 2018 .
^ Weisberg, Josh. "The Hard Problem of Consciousness" . Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy . ISSN 2161-0002 . Retrieved September 11, 2018 .