Rāmānuja’s cosmopsychist-panentheistic solution to the hard problem of consciousness
A. Vaidya, S. Siddharth
Religious Studies July 23, 2025 DOI: 10.1017/s0034412525100838 (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 | Proposes that a cosmopsychist-panentheistic metaphysics based on Rāmānuja's Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta provides a preferable solution to the hard problem of consciousness and supports a panentheistic God compatible with human free will. |
Abstract
Abstract Recent decades have seen a renewal of interest in panpsychism as a solution to the hard problem of consciousness. This has, in part, also driven an increase in interest in classical Indian philosophical traditions among analytic philosophers of mind. Many of these cross-cultural studies pertaining to panpsychism (and cosmopsychism) have focused on one particularly influential school of Indian philosophy, Advaita (non-dual) Vedānta, the most famous proponent of which is Śaṅkara. In this work, we would like to consider the view of another influential philosopher and the school that developed based on his view – Rāmānuja (eleventh century CE) and Viśiṣṭādvaita (qualified non-dualism) Vedānta. We argue that a cosmopsychist-panentheistic metaphysics that is motivated by Rāmānuja’s views offers a solution to the hard problem that is preferable to other comparable views and could form the basis for a panentheistic conception of God that is compatible with the reality of the freedom of human selves.
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Citations in the library
Cites 17
- Realistic Monism: Why Physicalism Entails Panpsychism Oxford University Press eBooks May 29, 2008
- Beyond Combination: How Cosmic Consciousness Grounds Ordinary Experience Journal of the American Philosophical Association 2018
- Consciousness and its Place in Nature. Does Physicalism entail Panpsychism? Process Studies April 1, 2007
- Priority Cosmopsychism and the Advaita Vedānta Philosophy East and West July 7, 2017
- The Playful Self-Involution of Divine Consciousness: Sri Aurobindo’s Evolutionary Cosmopsychism and His Response to the Individuation Problem The Monist October 16, 2021
and 12 more in the library