Harmony in a panpsychist world.
Synthese 2022 DOI: 10.1007/s11229-022-03974-7 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Consciousness Design hypotheses Fine-tuning Functionalism Hedonic match Multiverse Panpsychism Psychophysical luck Rationality Teleological laws |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key points | Argues that panpsychism provides a more attractive response than biological theories to the explanatory challenge posed by the correlation between experiences and subsequent states for which they provide normative reasons. |
Abstract
Experiences tend to be followed by states for which they provide normative reasons. Such harmonious correlations cry out for explanation. Theories that answer or diminish these cries thereby achieve an advantage over theories that do neither. I argue that the main lines of response to these cries that are available to biological theorists-theorists who hold (roughly) that conscious subjects are generally biological entities-are problematic. And I argue that panpsychism-which holds (roughly) that conscious subjects are ubiquitous in nature-provides an attractive response to these explanatory cries. Taken together, these considerations underwrite a kind of 'psychophysical fine-tuning' argument in support of panpsychism, one that is reminiscent of cosmological fine-tuning arguments in favor of multiverse hypotheses.