Footnotes2Plato

“The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.”
–Alfred North Whitehead

Author: Matthew David Segall

  • Discussing “The Blind Spot” with Gregg Henriques

    Here is a rough transcript of some of my comments to Gregg: I think this book speaks to both of us for obvious reasons. The work you’ve been engaged in with your UTOK system to bring together the humanities and the natural sciences in a more comprehensive, systematic perspective, and any of the dialogues you’ve…

  • Evolution as Cosmic Cognition (dialogue with Richard Watson)

    Matt Segall: Well, where do I want to begin? Richard, I know that you do a lot of work on evolutionary theory and evolution as a learning process or a cognitive process. While you have a lot of respect, if that’s the way I can put it, for Darwin’s theory of natural selection, it seems not…

  • Paradigm Shifts, Human Experience, Panpsychism, and Psychedelics (dialoguing with Jack Roycroft-Sherry)

    Jack and I discussed a number of topics, beginning with how science and philosophy might be demarcated. I suggest that science, born from natural philosophy, relies on metaphysical presuppositions and requires philosophical foundations to justify its knowledge claims. Philosophy seeks the general and universal, while science specializes in isolated regions of inquiry. Both are valuable…

  • Between Phenomenology, Science, and Process Ontology (dialogue with James Schofield)

    In this video,  James Schofield and I have detailed discussion about process philosophy, with a focus on our respective backgrounds, interests, and scholarly work. James begins by introducing his academic journey, highlighting his studies in anthropology, consciousness, and philosophy, which led to his book on Errol Harris. He shares his dissatisfaction with traditional anthropology and psychology, which propelled…

  • Metaphysics, Science, and Waking Up (dialogue with Roman Campolo)

    Roman and Matt delved into Whitehead’s metaphysics, exploring its intersections with modern science and spiritual experience. Roman began by asking Matt about the distinction between Whitehead’s eternal objects and Plato’s eternal forms. Matt explained that although Whitehead was influenced by Plato, the two concepts are different. Plato saw the physical world as an imperfect imitation…

  • Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: A dialogue with Evan Sola, PsyD and Casey Paleos, MD

    A clinical psychologist and psychiatrist involved in MAPS’ phase 3 MDMA trials weigh in on the ethical and ontological challenges of psychedelic psychotherapy. Here is a rough transcript of this conversation. Evan and Casey both have chapters in a soon to be published American Psychological Association textbook on psychedelic therapy, which formed the basis of…

  • Philosophy of/as Information in Simondon, Floridi, and Whitehead (dialogue with Tim Jackson)

    We discuss Ashley Woodward’s paper on Simondon: “Philosophy of/as Information” Here’s a ChatGPT4o summary:  Matt greeted Tim, sharing about the warm weather in Oakland and the ongoing Independence Day celebrations with fireworks already exploding despite it being 4 o’clock in the afternoon. They had both read Luciano Floridi’s work on Philosophy of Information and Ashley…

  • Toward a Goethean Physics: Reading Steiner’s “Light Course” (GA 320) through Whitehead’s Organic Realism

    Below are some excerpts and more or less stream of consciousness reflections upon reading the student notes from Rudolf Steiner’s so-called “Light Course” (GA 320; Dec 1919-Jan 1920). The number headings correspond to each of his lectures. These notes are helping me prepare for a presentation next month at MysTech’s “Mysteries of Light” conference.  1. Rudolf Steiner spent…

  • Discussing “The Blind Spot” (2024) with Timothy Jackson

    Tim joined me to discuss Frank, Gleiser, and Thompson’s new book. Below are some timestamps of what we covered in this long conversation: 0:10 The contemporary urban life-world 10:36 In defense of “direct experience” 19:26 Life is a surprise to physics? 35:45 Real time vs. Clock time 42:13 Organization precedes Evolution? 1:04:27 Organicism includes mechanism;…

  • More Reflections on “The Blind Spot”: Life, Cognition, and Consciousness

    These are rough notes that capture some of my ongoing reflections after re-reading the core chapters of The Blind Spot. You can read my original review here: Blind Spot Review. I composed these notes in preparation for a dialogue tomorrow with biologist Timothy Jackson. Stay tuned for that! Chapter 6, titled “Life,” begins with the authors’ reflection…

  • What is Metamodern Christianity?

    Yesterday, I listened to this wonderful dialogue between Brendan Graham Dempsey and John Vervaeke: They discuss Brendan’s proposal of a “metamodern” Christianity and explore the potential to reclaim faith in Christ in a contemporary, intellectually responsible way. The conversation revolved around the evolution of human understanding and relationship with what, following Jung, we can call “the…

  • Review of “The Blind Spot: Why Science Cannot Ignore Human Experience”

    Review of The Blind Spot: Why Science Cannot Ignore Human Experience (MIT Press, 2024) by Adam Frank, Marcelo Gleiser, and Evan Thompson By Matthew David Segall In The Blind Spot, Frank, Gleiser, and Thompson offer an urgent philosophical intervention into humanity’s all but doomed technoscientific civilizational project. The authors argue cogently that our contemporary scientific culture has steered…

  • Some Philosophical Implications of Michael Levin’s New Paradigm Biology

    Over the last year, I’ve had a couple of extremely stimulating conversations with the developmental biologist Mike Levin.  The first was moderated by Karen Wong: Platonizing Biology: A Dialogue with Michael Levin  Read full story The second was a one-on-one exchange on my YouTube channel: Taming the Technological Dragon, with Michael Levin Read full story…

  • Radio 2050 Interview about Process Philosophy

    Alanna Goldsmith from Radio 2050 interviewed me last year in the hopes that I might introduce process philosophy to a general audience. You can listen to the episode (interspersed with musical interludes) by following this link: https://radioparadise.com/episode/matt-segall; or read the transcript of my remarks below. Alanna Goldsmith: Today we’ll be taking a bit of a philosophical…

  • Part 2 on Jung’s ‘Answer to Job’ (dialogue with Tim Jackson)

    Some key themes that emerge in our dialogue:  Jung begins the book with an emotional, active imagination style condemnation of Yahweh’s behavior in the Book of Job. In the second half, he steps back to analyze not just what is going on in Yahweh’s unconscious and in Job, but to look at all of Western civilization…

  • Reading Jung’s ‘Answer to Job’

    In my dialogue with Tim Jackson a few days ago, we began exploring perhaps Jung’s most important book, Answer to Job. We’ll be meeting again tomorrow to record a part 2. In the meantime, below are some of my preliminary reflections on the second half of the text.  … Jung explores the psychospiritual implications of the biblical…

  • On Jung’s “Answer to Job” (dialogue with Timothy Jackson)

    This recording is our first of at least two dialogues on a book I’ll never be done reading. Below is my own brief summary after re-reading roughly the first half of the text: Physical facts aren’t the only basis for truth. According to Jung, there are also psychic truths, and they are no less valid,…

  • C. G. Jung: Reception and Relevance

    Tim and I shared our appreciation for Jung, reviewed the charges of anti-semitism, and discussed his enduring relevance (timestamps available on YouTube).

  • “Magnificent Rebels: The First Romantics and the Invention of the Self” by Andrea Wulf

    I joined Rupert Sheldrake and David Lorimer to discuss Wulf’s brilliant book on the “Jena set” (the Schlegels, Schiller, Goethe, Caroline, Novalis, Schelling, etc.).

  • Polycomputing and Process Philosophy

    Tim and I were at it again this afternoon. I begin by introducing some ideas from this preprint by Joshua Bongard and Michael Levin: “There’s Plenty of Room Right Here: Biological Systems as Evolved, Overloaded, Multi-scale Machines.” Here are some of the ideas we discussed in this video: 

  • Alfred North Whitehead: Ideas and Influence

    Below is an article I’ve just finished that will eventually be translated into German and published in The Whitehead Handbook (Verlag).