Consciousness
is considered to be the foundation of universe. It is thought to be
omnipresent, in whatever we encounter including us.
Contrary to belief that it
is a subjective experience that only human beings possess, intellectuals are
now debating that consciousness is all pervasive.
When
we are discussing topics such as consciousness there is no concurrence in terms
of what we know so far. Especially when the argument turns into something that
beats our common sense.
But philosophers and academicians across the world think
that even scientists like Albert Einstein make suggestions
regarding their research that counters common sense. So, we should learn to be
more open rather than drawing conclusions based on our intuition.
A
philosophy professor, Mr. David Chalmers indicated the hard problem of consciousness a few years ago demonstrating that there was no solution to the origin of consciousness.
There have been two major perspectives to answer this question – materialism and
dualism.
Materialism
believes consciousness is derived entirely from physical matter however dualism
suggests that consciousness and physical matter are two distinct entities. None
of these is a feasible explanation though.
It is at this juncture Panpsychism
offers another explanation. It holds that consciousness is a fundamental
feature of physical matter.
This viewpoint makes a case that every particle
that exists has a form of consciousness however puny it may be. The argument
goes further to indicate that when many such small forms come together, complex
structures get created.
Does
it mean that inanimate objects too possess consciousness? Well, panpsychism
would imply that. Anything that you can think of – stones, cars, forks, tables,
yes, everything has consciousness. There is a lot of interest on this way of
seeing things.
Universities have made serious attempts to offer panpsychism,
the philosophy of mind, as one of the areas being researched. There have been
books written now. So, it is gathering sufficient interest. Click here to know more about on this doctrine.
But
does panpsychism provide reasonable explanation for all questions? No, there
are still questions to be answered. One of the biggest questions is known as “Combination
problem”. It asks exactly how do small pieces of consciousness gel together to form
more sophisticated piece of consciousness? Even though for sake of argument if
we consider that specks of consciousness do exist in all objects, there is no
plausible justification that they would consolidate.
Having said all these,
there is still a long way to go to reach any conclusion as such. Any doctrine
is yet to reach that stage which has solution to all the problems that mankind
can fathom.
It is in this context philosopher John Perry says,
"If you think about consciousness long enough, you either become a panpsychist or you go into administration.”
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