The Universe Is Not Conscious
International Journal of Jungian Studies March 25, 2026 DOI: 10.1163/19409060-bja10062 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Metaphysics Holism Philosophy of science Phenomenology philosophy Ontology Natural archaeology Eliminative materialism Artificial consciousness Epistemology Mistake Anthropic principle Fallacy Reductionism Physical cosmology Objectivism Contingency Cartesianism Cosmic cancer database Jungian analytical psychology |
| Key points | Argues that positing cosmic consciousness commits an anthropomorphic fallacy; the cosmos is unconscious of itself despite being composed of complex process systems. |
Abstract
Abstract It has been fashionable in recent times to posit an ontology of consciousness that saturates all features of the universe and is the organizational ground of the cosmos itself. Against current trends in the philosophy of mind that adopt a return to panpsychism, metaphysical attempts to revitalize and rehabilitate a Neoplatonic paradigm of Oneness, and neo-Jungian perspectives that conceive of a macrosynthetic principle that explains multiplicity within holism as emanating from a transpersonal cosmopsychism, I argue that these speculations superimpose an anthropomorphic fallacy onto the natural world itself. Rather than postulate the cosmos as conscious, I suggest it is unconscious of itself despite comprising dynamic interactional patterns of evolving information processing exchange as complex process systems underlying its organizational thrust and spaciotemporal ontology. Respecting the limits of human language in ascribing consciousness to the cosmos avoids a category mistake that so often seeps into current discussions on cosmology. Understanding psychic experience does not require a metaphysical leap to postulating a fundamental ontology of cosmic consciousness.