Panpsychism and the metaphysics of properties
Asian Journal of Philosophy February 10, 2026 N. Osborn
A version of panpsychism emerges from a critical overview of the metaphysics of properties. The powerful qualities theory, which holds that all concrete properties are both powerful and qualitative, has a general advantage over other major property theories but faces the Collapse Argument: it struggles to define powerful qualities in a way that conceptually distinguishes them from pure powers. This issue is avoided by a variant making powerful qualities powerful qualia—essentially dispositional instances of phenomenal consciousness. Several attempts to sever the link between this powerful qualia theory and panpsychism are rejected. The endorsed result is a panpsychism of powerful qualia.