Dialoguing with Philip Goff about Consciousness, Panpsychism, and Process Philosophy

YouTube summary:

In this dialogue, Philip Goff, a philosopher from Durham University and author of Galileo’s Error, discusses various philosophical topics with the host (0:00).

Key discussion points include:

• The nature of philosophy (2:44) and its distinction from a mere profession, emphasizing its role in seeking coherence and unity of explanation in the universe (5:09).
• The intersection of science and philosophy (15:26), particularly concerning the study of consciousness. They explore whether consciousness can be explained by reductive scientific methods or if it requires a collaborative approach between science and philosophy (16:16).
• Panpsychism (22:36), the belief that consciousness is a fundamental and pervasive feature of the universe. They discuss its position as a middle ground between idealism and eliminativism (23:01).
• Russellian monism versus Whitehead’s process relational ontology (32:56), specifically in the context of panpsychism. They deliberate on the advantages of Whitehead’s process relational ontology (1:04:18) over the traditional substance-property ontology (1:00:19) in addressing the “combination problem” of consciousness (1:03:13).
• Purpose in nature (47:06) and the concept of aims at various levels, from human behavior to the quantum realm (51:31).
• The consciousness of the sun (1:19:31), with Goffleaning towards agnosticism on the matter, while the host suggests that complex self-organizing systems might display evidence of consciousness (1:23:43).