Neurophenomenology and Neoplatonism
The International Journal of the Platonic Tradition April 29, 2019 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1163/18725473-12341422
Summary
The findings suggest that the emerging worldview from neurophenomenology aligns with Neoplatonic theurgical insights, indicating that gods and daimons correspond to Jungian archetypes. It posits a shared root between the unconscious mind and physical reality, leading to a form of panpsychism where all physical processes exhibit both formal structure and material substrate, evolving over time. This perspective can enhance our understanding of Neoplatonism's concepts like the Forms and the World Soul.
Study at a glance
| Key finding | The study implies a form of panpsychism, suggesting all physical processes have both an eternal formal structure and a material substrate. |
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Abstract
Abstract The worldview emerging from neurophenomenology is consistent with the phenomenological insights obtained by Neoplatonic theurgical operations. For example, gods and daimons are phenomenologically equivalent to the archetypes and complexes investigated in Jungian psychology and explicated by evolutionary psychology. Jung understood the unconscious mind and physical reality to have a common root in an unus mundus (with physical and psychical aspects). Parallel reductions in the phenomenological and neurological domain imply elementary constituents of consciousness associated with simple physical systems, that is, natural processes experienced both externally (objectively) and internally (subjectively). Analysis reveals they have both an eternal formal structure and a material substrate that allows the formal structure to evolve in time with both phenomenal and physical aspects. Since all physical processes fit this description, a form of panpsychism is implied. These developments can inform our understanding of the Forms, the World Soul, and individual souls in Neoplatonism.