Panpsychism and Panprotopsychism

I present an argument for panpsychism: the thesis that everything is conscious, or at least that fundamental physical entities are conscious. The argument takes a Hegelian dialectical form. Panpsychism emerges as a synthesis of the thesis of materalism and the antithesis of dualism. In particular, the key premises of the causal argument for materialism and the conceivability argument for dualism are all accommodated by a certain version of panpsychism. This synthesis has its own antithesis in turn: panprotopsychism, the thesis that fundamental physical entities are protoconscious, also accommodates the key premises. Panpsychism and panprotopsychism are synthesized under Russellian monism, and then face an antithesis, the combination problem. The question of whether there is a new synthesis remains open. The Amherst Lecture in Philosophy (ISSN: 1559-7199) is a free on-line journal, published by the Department of Philosophy, Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002. Phone: (413) 542-5805. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: http://www.amherstlecture.org/. Copyright David J. Chalmers. This article may be copied without the copyright owner’s permission only if the copy is used for educational, not-for-profit purposes. For all other purposes, the copyright owner’s permission is required. In all cases, both the author and The Amherst Lecture in Philosophy must be acknowledged in the copy. P the amherst lecture in philosophy Lecture 8, 2013 Panpsychism and Panprotopsychism David J. Chalmers 1 Panpsychism and Panprotopsychism David J. Chalmers Australian National University New York University