Does Vedānta Concern the Hard Problem of Consciousness? Part I: A Critical Examination of the Perennial Idealist Reading of Śaṅkara’s Advaita Vedānta
Anand Vaidya
Journal of Consciousness Studies October 1, 2025 DOI: 10.53765/20512201.32.9.215 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Argues that Śaṅkara's metaphysics of non-dual universal consciousness is not fit to ground subject-level phenomenal-intentional consciousness, so it cannot solve the hard problem of consciousness as Albahari claims. |
Abstract
In a series of papers, Miri Albahari (2019; 2020; 2022; 2024) has articulated and defended perennial idealism (PI), a view she associates with Śakara’s Advaita Vedānta. She argues that PI offers a solution to the hard problem of consciousness (HPC). In this work, I distinguish the HPC, which occupies contemporary analytic philosophy of mind, from the hard problem of the self (HPS), which occupied classical Indian philosophy. I then critically evaluate Albahari’s use of non-dual universal consciousness to solve the HPC. I focus on her response to a set of objections to the view that non-dual universal consciousness is fit for grounding subject‐level phenomenal‐intentional consciousness – the target of the HPC. I argue that because Śakara’s metaphysics of non-dual universal consciousness as the ground of all being is not fit to ground, it cannot solve the HPC.
Comparable studies
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| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- Beyond Combination: How Cosmic Consciousness Grounds Ordinary Experience Journal of the American Philosophical Association 2018
- Priority Cosmopsychism and the Advaita Vedānta Philosophy East and West July 7, 2017
- Tatsṛṣṭvā Tadevānuprāviśat : Toward an Advaita Vedantic Approach to Cosmopsychism Philosophy East and West October 1, 2023