Thursday, August 2, 2007
David Skrbina's Panpsychism in the West - A Review
Near the end of I Am a Strange Loop, Douglas Hofstadter takes a single, derisive look at panpsychism, lumping it in with other ideas that don't make sense (p 275).
Rudy Rucker, when asked, "What is your dangerous idea?" responded with panpsychism. I love his description of it: "Mind is a universally distributed quality."
Hofstadter and Rucker are two of my favorites. One derisive of the idea, one enthralled by it. After reading this book, I've got to say that I'm both.
David Skrbina does an impressive job of re-casting the history of Western philosophy with an eye toward panpsychism. I found myself unable to resist making notes in the margin, both for later perusal, and for jumping-off points. The last twenty pages are largely concerned with Skrbina's own lackluster evangelism for panpsychism, but the first 249 pages present an extraordinary history of philosophy that I enjoyed thoroughly.
As for the book, I loved it.
As for panpsychism - at least as described by Skrbina - I remain unconvinced. That being said, it would be a tough sell for me to swallow it wholesale, and he has planted some seeds which may grow down the road.
Starting with an arbitrary 19 stars, I deduct one for referring to himself in the third person (come on, just say "I gave a talk in 1993"). I deduct one more for mis-labeling Darwin's book as The Origin of the Species, and I leave him with the remaining 17. A hearty endorsement.
Rudy Rucker, when asked, "What is your dangerous idea?" responded with panpsychism. I love his description of it: "Mind is a universally distributed quality."
Hofstadter and Rucker are two of my favorites. One derisive of the idea, one enthralled by it. After reading this book, I've got to say that I'm both.
David Skrbina does an impressive job of re-casting the history of Western philosophy with an eye toward panpsychism. I found myself unable to resist making notes in the margin, both for later perusal, and for jumping-off points. The last twenty pages are largely concerned with Skrbina's own lackluster evangelism for panpsychism, but the first 249 pages present an extraordinary history of philosophy that I enjoyed thoroughly.
As for the book, I loved it.
As for panpsychism - at least as described by Skrbina - I remain unconvinced. That being said, it would be a tough sell for me to swallow it wholesale, and he has planted some seeds which may grow down the road.
Starting with an arbitrary 19 stars, I deduct one for referring to himself in the third person (come on, just say "I gave a talk in 1993"). I deduct one more for mis-labeling Darwin's book as The Origin of the Species, and I leave him with the remaining 17. A hearty endorsement.
// posted by David @ 8:13 AM 
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