Can Consciousness Have Blind Spots? : A Renewed Defence of Sri Aurobindo's Opaque Cosmopsychism
Journal of Consciousness Studies October 1, 2024 DOI: 10.53765/20512201.31.9.113 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractThe cosmopsychist doctrine of Indian philosopher-mystic Sri Aurobindo has distinct advantages over rival panpsychist positions. After tracing recent philosophical debates about panpsychism, the author brings Aurobindo into dialogue with Miri Albahari's panpsychist idealism based on Śankara's Advaita Vedānta. Albahari's view is critiqued from an Aurobindonian standpoint: its Śankaran metaphysical commitments and eliminativist implications make it an unsatisfactory account of consciousness. Aurobindo's cosmopsychism is then summarized, and its distinctive solution to the individuation problem is explained: Divine Consciousness individuates into multiple creaturely consciousnesses through 'self-limitation' and 'exclusive concentration'. The paper concludes by addressing several potential objections.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Philosophy |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key finding | Aurobindo's cosmopsychism offers a satisfactory solution to the individuation problem through Divine Consciousness's processes of self-limitation and exclusive concentration, giving it advantages over rival panpsychist positions. |
Abstract
This article defends the cosmopsychist doctrine of the Indian philosopher-mystic Sri Aurobindo, arguing that it has distinct advantages over rival panpsychist positions. After tracing the dialectical trajectory of recent philosophical debates about panpsychism up to the present, I bring Aurobindo into dialogue with Miri Albahari, who has defended a form of panpsychist idealism based on the classical Advaita Vedānta philosophy of Śankara. I critique Albahari's panpsychist idealism from an Aurobindonian standpoint, arguing that its Śankaran metaphysical commitments and eliminativist implications make it an unsatisfactory account of consciousness. I then summarize Aurobindo's cosmopsychism and explain its distinctive solution to the individuation problem, which is widely considered to be the most serious problem for all forms of cosmopsychism. According to Aurobindo, Divine Consciousness individuates into multiple creaturely consciousnesses through the twin processes of 'self-limitation' and 'exclusive concentration'. I conclude the paper by addressing several potential objections to Aurobindo's cosmopsychism.