All Things Are Full of Gods, page 55
14. See Perry Marshall, Evolution 2.0: Breaking the Deadlock between Darwin and Design (Dallas, TX: Ben Bella, 2015), pp. 180–182.
15. See Jonas, The Phenomenon of Life, pp. 4–5.
16. See Evan Thompson, Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010).
17. See Thompson, Mind in Life, pp. 53, 101, 236.
18. Claude Bernard (1813–1879). See Noble, Dance to the Tune of Life, p. 193.
19. See Andreas Wagner, Arrival of the Fittest: Solving Evolution’s Greatest Puzzle (London: Current Publishing, 2014).
20. See Noble, Dance to the Tune of Life, p. 199.
21. See J. Scott Turner, Purpose and Desire: What Makes Something “Alive” and Why Modern Darwinism Has Failed to Explain It (New York: Harper One, 2017).
22. See Richard Lewontin, The Triple Helix: Gene, Organism, and Environment (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000).
23. See Noble, Dance to the Tune of Life, pp. 139, 134–152, 198–199, 203.
24. James A. Shapiro, Evolution: A View from the Twenty-First Century. Fortified: Why Evolution Works as Well as It Does, 2nd ed. (Chicago: Cognition Press, 2022), pp. 1–11, 97–99, 208–209, 381–444, 489–528, 541–563.
25. See Stephen Jay Gould, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2002).
26. See Hubert Yockey, Information Theory, Evolution, and the Origin of Life (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005).
27. Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961). Hermes’s reference is to Schrödinger’s brilliant short book—or long essay—What Is Life? (London: Macmillan, 1944).
DAY SIX
1. Marsilio Ficino, Epistolae II.1: “Five Questions Concerning the Soul.”
2. Maximus the Confessor, Ambigua VII.10.
3. Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464): “Quod nisi deus esset infinitus, non foret finis desidere . . . Tu igitur es, deus, ipsa infinitas, quam solum in omni desiderio desidero” (De visione dei XVI.71–73). See also De venatione sapientiae XII.32.
4. Kena Upaniṣad 4.5.
5. See Śaṅkara, Brahma Sūtra Bhāṣya 1.1.1; Muṇdaka Upaniṣad Bhāṣya 2.1.7; Richard de Smet, Understanding Śaṅkara (Delhi: Motil Banarsidass, 2013), pp. 285–286.
6. Lonergan’s argument is laid out in the nineteenth chapter of his magnum opus Insight: A Study of Human Understanding, 5th ed. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997), pp. 657–708. A somewhat simpler variation on the argument appears in Robert J. Spitzer, New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010), pp. 144–176.
7. Maurice Blondel (1861–1949). See his Action (1893): Essay on a Critique of Life and a Science of Practice, trans. Oliva Blanchette, 2nd ed. (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2021).
Index
aboutness, 136
abstractions, 142, 143–144, 145–146, 436
access consciousness, 56, 486n5
actions, 166, 348
aetiology, 72, 333
age of the machine, 474–475, 476–477, 482
aitia (causa), 69, 70
Albert the Great, 494n8
animals: capacity for processing stimuli, 338
cognitive abilities of, 336, 337, 339
systems of communication, 337
animate reality, 48
animism, 38, 299
Anthony, Lawrence, 337
a posteriori necessity, 193, 218, 219
apperceptive “I,” 317, 422
a priori truth, 193
Apuleius: Metamorphoses, 11
Aristotle, 35, 81, 106
Armstrong, David, 487n7
Artificial Intelligence, 406–407
as-if intentionality, 135
atheism, 466
Athenagoras, 494n8
Ātman (spirit), 118, 317, 318, 434
Ātman is Brahman, 7, 454, 457, 459
Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Saint, 432
autophenomenological perspective, 241
autopoiesis, 346, 347, 381, 494n8
“autoregressive” processes, 407
awareness of a thing, 128–129
awareness of yourself, 106
Baars, Bernard, 231
Bacon, Francis, 35, 69
bees, choreography of, 337
behavior, 215, 376
behavioral disposition, 206
behaviorism, 203, 205–206
being: delimited and nondelimited, 458
intelligibility of, 448, 449
as manifestation, 443
beliefs: cognitive, 206
vs. data, 256
as illusory representation of physical process, 154
impact on behavior, 209
machines and, 256
reductionist account of, 255
Bergson, Henri, 340, 347
Berkeley, George, 6, 49, 50
Bernard, Claude, 389
Berwick, Robert, 286
Bhaṭṭa, Kumārila, 318
binding problem, 116, 487n11
biochemistry, 33, 199
biological relativity, 341
biological selfhood, 383
biology, 198, 326, 338
blindsight: phenomenon of, 212, 213, 214
Block, Ned, 486n5
Blondel, Maurice, 451
body: distinction between living and lived, 377, 379, 380
ghost in, 270
mind and, 46
soul and, 46, 47–48, 228, 376
Borges, Jorge Luis, 123
Brahe, Tycho, 487n1
Brahman, 7, 311, 318, 433, 434
brain: cognitive abilities of, 46, 269
vs. computer, 266
confusion of, 118
data, 230
efficiency of, 99, 230, 454
electrochemical activity of, 99, 163, 186
“Global Workspace Theory” of, 231–232
hemispheres of, 222–223, 224
information processing in, 116–117
internal proprioception of, 109
linguistic function of, 137
mechanical processes of, 150
mind and, 19, 24, 46, 195, 224, 230
neurology of, 116, 117, 148, 204, 236–237
parallel processes of interpretation, 230–231
perception of reality and, 240
plurality of functions, 222–223, 224, 225
sources of information, 115
thinking about anything, 204, 205
transformation of, 267–268, 269
translation of stimuli into responses, 276
Brentano, Franz, 124, 125, 134, 315, 488n14
Carroll, Lewis, 291
Cartesian dualism, 51, 296, 311
Cartesian theatre, 237, 247
causal closure, 44, 46
causality: of activities, 195
Aristotelian tradition on, 59
concept of, 73–74, 167, 340
forms of, 43–44, 46, 71
fourfold scheme of, 60, 61, 62
of intentional content, 359
levels of, 40–41, 188, 190
logical vs. physical, 49
mechanical, 44, 45
nature of, 80–81
non-physical, 82
top-down and bottom-up, 61, 176, 185, 186, 187, 217, 219, 339
causes: concept of, 73, 386
effects and, 157, 158
formal and final, 64, 65, 414
material forces of, 168
rationale vs. mechanical, 158
cells: evolutionary change and, 396
molecular assemblage, 353
power of natural genetic engineering, 363, 398, 400–401
reproduction of, 354, 361, 375
cellular automata, 360, 361, 362–363, 364
Cervantes, Miguel de: Don Quixote, 123–124
Chaisson, Eric, 351, 387
Chalmers, David, 266, 297, 307, 311, 487n3
Chinese Room argument, 279–280, 281
Chomsky, Noam, 286, 288
Churchland, Paul, 196
Cicero: On Divination, 4
code/coding, 274, 369, 404, 405, 407, 411
cognition, 56–57, 231, 436
cognitive dissonance, 130–131
cognitive functions, 119, 366, 379
cognitive plurality, 222
combination problem, 304
commissurotomy, 222, 224, 227
common sense, 393, 400, 464, 465, 466
as “folk psychology,” 196, 197
communication: “proto-glossal” system of, 285
competence without comprehension, 247
complexity, 345, 346
composition: vs. combination, 303–304
compositional fallacy, 176, 181, 281
computation, 279, 283, 292, 293
computer: coding and, 282–283
computational process and, 273–275
function of, 279
limitation of, 114–115
memory and, 272–273
physical actions in, 274
as physical object, 273
Turing test, 279
as unthinking mechanism, 265
concepts: abstracted from empirical experiences, 142, 143–144, 145–146
definition of, 145
eidetic and taxonomic, 143
mind and, 141
percept and, 145
as substance of our knowledge of reality, 142
confusion, 118, 119, 224
conscious acts of recognition, 31, 128
conscious choice, 160–162
consciousness: active power of, 108
awareness and, 55–56, 107, 111, 213–214
behavior and, 211, 215, 374
blindsight and, 213, 214
cognition and, 212
of color, 245
definition of, 29, 52–53, 105, 131
emergence of, 296–297, 375–376
experience and, 108
as first-person phenomenon, 24
as form of comportment, 377–378, 379
functional cognition and, 379
as fundamental reality, 301
“hard problem” of, 378
“higher order perception” of, 316
“homuncular decomposition” of, 229
illusion of intrinsic, 25–26
in Indian philosophical tradition, 317
indivisible nature of, 110
information-state and, 231, 297, 306
intentionality and, 57, 124, 128, 209, 313
as irreducible, 172
in itself, 179–180
lack of causal role of, 208, 210
within larger functional system, 211
as logical necessity, 379
material causes of, 179
matter and, 303
measurement of, 298
mind and, 120, 303, 304, 312
mystery of, 97
as non-physical phenomenon, 18, 207, 208, 247, 420
operation of, 81
of pain, 208, 218
phenomenal, 55
philosophical discussions of, 490n11
Phi value of, 298
privacy of, 29–30
as property, 299, 301–302, 308
qualitative states of, 55, 253
reason and, 212
in relation to the world, 36, 106, 378
as residue of physical processes, 210
roots of, 165
self-, 32
vs. sensations,
as specific act, 302
structure of, 314
system of stimulus and response and, 380
as third-person inventory of impressions, 213
unity of, 26, 227
constitutive absence, 386
contragrade changes, 384
Conway, John, 360
“Game of Life,” 332
coordination of faculties, 110
cosmic order, 59–60
cosmic organicism, 328
cui bono fallacy, 54, 97, 104, 119, 375, 378
Davies, Paul, 357, 358, 359, 360, 364, 369, 388, 409
Dawkins, Richard, 277, 331
Deacon, Terrence, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387
delayed awareness, 210–211
Dennett, Daniel: account of “belief,” 255
circular arguments of, 257
on consciousness, 229, 230, 237, 238, 252, 376
on elementary form of language, 285
on intentionality, 241, 349
knowledge argument of, 243–245
on pain, 254
on robot’s computational functions, 255, 280
on soul, 366–367
on “syntactic engine,” 276
thought-experiments with regard to qualia, 240, 251, 252, 253
derived intentionality, 135
Descartes, René, 35, 46, 49, 114
desire: behavior and, 209, 217
for Brahmajijñāsā, 434
corrupt, 428
eruption of, 425
following and resistance to, 159
horizon of, 427
for the infinity of God, 434
to know, 425, 449
for love, 448
objects of, 428–429
reason for existence of, 171
determinism, 165
diffused intentionality, 135
dissociative identity disorder, 226
DNA, 341, 364–365, 392, 393–394, 397, 398, 405
dolphins: cognitive abilities of, 336
double intentionality, 315, 317
Dretske, Fred, 134
dualism: of body and soul, 48
fallacy of terminal, 43
vs. materialism, 5
post-Cartesian, 208
rejection of, 46
rise of, 66
of substances, 43–44, 213
Echo (nymph), 478, 480
Eckhart, Meister, 318, 458, 492n15
Eddington, Arthur, 299
Einstein, Albert, 291
élan vital, 340, 347
elephants: cognitive abilities of, 336, 337
eliminativism, 192, 196, 197, 199–203, 207–208, 211
emergence: concept of, 170, 178, 180, 181, 182, 183
vs. formation, 183
irreducible, 189
language of, 369
of new physical realities, 182–183
from physical perspective, 183–184
secondary level of, 183
structural, 184
weak and strong, 171, 182, 186, 187
emergentism, 170, 366, 378, 414
emergent realities: vs. primordial realities, 61
emergent whole, 178–179
empirical ego, 227
empirical phenomenology, 199
energy: environment and, 352
flows of, 351–352, 355–356
Enlightenment project, 473
“ententional” phenomena, 386
Epicurus, 12, 13
epiphenomenalism, 203, 207, 208, 209, 210, 220
epistemic judgments, 255
evolution: Neo-Darwinian account of, 22, 330, 389–390, 391, 394, 398
outside natural selection, 397
theory of, 68, 72, 77, 398–399
exceptionalist fallacy, 335
existence: as manifestation, 443–444
existence of all things, 19, 20, 85
experience: as active labor of mind, 422
elements of, 31
first-person, 25, 250
of the infinite, 433
intentionality and, 130
sensory, 112
subjective and objective poles of, 252, 438
temporal sequence of, 32
through intentional expectations, 129
of transcendence, 457
of unexpected, 129
view from outside, 237
“extended substance” (res extensa), 338
fading qualia, 267
fallacy: compositional, 176, 181, 281
cui bono, 54, 97, 104, 119, 375, 378
of displacement, 54
exceptionalist, 335
genetic, 54
mereological, 53
Narcissean, 54, 271–272, 477
pleonastic, 42, 97, 105, 245, 251, 308
psychologistic, 50, 254
of terminal dualism, 43
Feynman, Richard, 401, 413
Ficino, Marsilio, 433
final causality, 66–71, 83, 330, 435
first-person accounts of things, 23, 24, 26, 30–31, 93, 187, 194, 251
flow of information, 359, 367
folk psychology, 196, 197, 199, 200–201
form, 66, 68, 69, 71, 81, 180, 330
formal causality, 35, 40, 81, 83, 183, 188, 189, 190
formation: vs. emergence, 183
free will, 45, 157, 159–160, 162, 186
functionalism, 149, 166, 280–281
as empty metaphor, 290
governing maxim of, 276
logic of, 3, 276
qualia and, 242
reason for believing in, 239
fundamentalism, 473
Galilei, Galileo, 35, 42, 66, 324
“Game of Life” computer simulation, 360, 364, 368
genes, 341, 395, 397
genetic code, 353, 354, 405–406
genetic fallacy, 54
genome, 396–397, 398, 404
geocentrism, 92–93
geometrical concepts, 145–146
ghost in the machine, 6, 43, 47, 208, 227, 228, 229, 270
ghost within the body, 230
God: classical concept of, 65, 466
disclosure of reality of, 448
eternal self-manifestation of, 458
existence of all things and, 19
as final object of rational desire, 434
as infinite act of knowing, 450–451
as infinite being, 65, 451
mind of, 19, 28, 84, 85, 465–466
omnipotence of, 47
as supreme user-interface, 454
Goff, Philip, 311, 312
Gregory of Nyssa, 494n8
Grice, Paul, 134
hard problem, 487n3
heliocentric cosmos, 93
heterophenomenology, 241
higher order function, 170, 316, 317
Hofstadter, Douglas, 488n21
homeodynamic systems, 384, 385
homeostasis, 389, 391, 392
horizon of desire, 427
horizon of intelligibility, 19, 425
horizon of the absolute, 438, 440
horizon of truth, 423, 433, 437
human beings: actions of, 163
capacity to choose, 164
loneliness of, 479–480
narcissism of, 480
Human Genome Project, 340–341
human population of the world, 479
Hume, David, 73, 486n8
Husserl, Edmund, 108, 130, 315, 377, 487n6
idealism, 33
identity theory, 192, 193, 194, 195
