DR.DR. BERNARDOBERNARDO KASTRUP KASTRUP Analytic Idealism: A consciousness-only ontology Analytic Idealism: A Analytic Idealism: A consciousness-only ontology Analytic Idealism: A Analytic Idealism:Idealism: A consciousness-onlyconsciousness-only ontologyontology DR. BERNARDO KASTRUP DR. DR. BERNARDO KASTRUP DR. 529173-L-os-Kastrup Processed on: 18-2-2019 Analytic Idealism: A consciousness-only ontology dr. Bernardo Kastrup 529173-L-bw-Kastrup Processed on: 18-2-2019 PDF page: 1 Kastrup, Bernardo Analytic Idealism: A consciousness-only ontology ISBN/EAN: 978-94-028-1400-2 Copyright © 2016-2019 by Bernardo Kastrup. All rights reserved. 529173-L-bw-Kastrup Processed on: 18-2-2019 PDF page: 2 Analytische Idealisme: Een ontologie met alleen bewustzijn Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen op gezag van de rector magnificus prof. dr. J.H.J.M. van Krieken volgens besluit van het college van decanen te verdedigen op maandag 29 april 2019 om 14.30 uur precies door dr. Bernardo Kastrup geboren op 21 oktober 1974 te Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazilië. 529173-L-bw-Kastrup Processed on: 18-2-2019 PDF page: 3 Promotiecommissie Promotor: prof. dr. M. V. P. Slors Copromotor: dr. ing. L. C. de Bruin Manuscriptcommissie: prof. dr. P. J. J. M. Bakker Prof. B. J. Carr, MA, PhD Queen Mary University of London, Verenigd Koninkrijk Dr. S. Coleman University of Hertfordshire, Verenigd Koninkrijk dr. V. A. Gijsbers Universiteit Leiden, Nederland dr. D. W. Strijbos 529173-L-bw-Kastrup Processed on: 18-2-2019 PDF page: 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................................. 7 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 9 1.1 In a nutshell ........................................................................................................................................ 9 1.2 The big picture ................................................................................................................................. 10 1.3 The appendices ............................................................................................................................... 14 1.4 Preempting misunderstandings .............................................................................................. 15 2. Conflating Abstraction with Empirical Observation: The False Mind-Matter Dichotomy .................................................................................. 19 2.1 Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. 19 2.2 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 19 2.3 The epistemic cost of explanation by abstraction ............................................................ 22 2.4 Levels of explanatory abstraction ........................................................................................... 26 2.5 Dispelling the mind-matter dichotomy ................................................................................ 28 2.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 31 3. The Universe in Consciousness ......................................................................................... 33 3.1 Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. 33 3.2 Brief introduction ........................................................................................................................... 33 3.3 The mainstream physicalist ontology and its problems ............................................... 33 3.4 Consciousness as an irreducible property of matter ...................................................... 35 3.5 The questionable logical bridge in bottom-up panpsychism ...................................... 38 3.6 What counts as a fundamental concrete entity? ............................................................... 39 3.7 The whole universe as a unitary conscious entity ........................................................... 40 3.8 The key questions to be answered ......................................................................................... 44 3.9 Experiences as excitations of cosmic consciousness ...................................................... 44 3.10 Tackling the decombination problem ................................................................................ 45 3.11 At what level does cosmic dissociation occur? ............................................................... 48 3.12 Reducing the revealed to the concealed order ............................................................... 50 3.13 Explaining the correlations between brain function and inner experience ...... 53 3.14 Explaining our shared world .................................................................................................. 55 3.15 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 56 4. On the Plausibility of Idealism: Refuting Criticisms ................................................. 57 4.1 Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. 57 4.2 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 57 4.3 The felt concreteness objection ............................................................................................... 58 4.4 The private minds objection ...................................................................................................... 59 4.5 The stand-alone world objection ............................................................................................ 61 4.6 The autonomy of nature objection ......................................................................................... 63 4.7 The shared world objection ....................................................................................................... 63 4.8 The natural order objection ....................................................................................................... 64 4.9 The equivalence objection .......................................................................................................... 65 4.10 The primacy of brain function objection .......................................................................... 66 4.11 The unconscious mentation objection ............................................................................... 67 4.12 The unconsciousness objection ............................................................................................ 68 4.13 The solipsism objection ............................................................................................................ 69 4.14 The cosmological history objection .................................................................................... 70 4.15 The implausibility of cosmic inner life objection .......................................................... 70 4.16 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 71 529173-L-bw-Kastrup Processed on: 18-2-2019 PDF page: 5 Analytic Idealism 5. There Is an ‘Unconscious,’ but It May Well Be Conscious ...................................... 73 5.1 Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. 73 5.2 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 73 5.3 Defining and gauging consciousness ..................................................................................... 75 5.4 Non-self-reflective experiences ............................................................................................... 77 5.5 Dissociated experiences .............................................................................................................. 79 5.6 A model of dissociation ................................................................................................................ 81 5.7 Discussion .......................................................................................................................................... 84 6. Self-Transcendence Correlates with Brain Function Impairment ..................... 87 6.1 Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. 87 6.2 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 87 6.3 Cerebral hypoxia ............................................................................................................................. 88 6.4 Generalized physiological stress ............................................................................................