This is an exploration of consciousness in all matter — from quantum to cosmos.
by Christian de Quincey
This is an exploration of consciousness in all matter — from quantum to cosmos.
We have all wondered if rocks are conscious and if animals or plants have souls. Or, if trees feel pleasure or pain. Where in the great unfolding of life did consciousness first appear?
How we answer such questions can dramatically affect the way we live our lives, how we treat the world of nature and even how we relate to our own bodies.
In this new edition, de Quincey explores the “hard problem” of philosophy — how mind and matter are related — and proposes a radical and surprising answer: that matter itself tingles with consciousness at the deepest level.
It is there in the cells of every living creature, even in molecules and atoms.
Tracing the lineage of this idea through Western philosophy and science, he shows that it has a noble history — from before Plato to Alfred North Whitehead.
He reveals that the way to God is through nature and that understanding how body and soul fit together has surprising consequences for our relationships with our environment, with other people and even with ourselves.
$19.95 — Park Street Press, One Park St., Rochester, VT 05767.
Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 29, Number 3, June/July 2010.
April 14, 2012
Book review