Saskia Campert – the Netherlands
Note from the editor. The Dutch Section of the TS-Adyar publishes a high-quality quarterly magazine called THEOSOFIA.
Click on the cover above to look inside the magazine
The content of this wonderfully printed periodical is in the Dutch language. Saskia Campert LLM, part of the editorial board, submitted an English translation to me of an article, based on the thoughts and theses of BERNARDO KASTRUP, a Brazilian-born, Dutch philosopher and computer scientist This article appeared in Theosofia some time ago.
Saskia is a lifelong student of Theosophy, an active member and secretary of the “Zeeland Center.”
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The 125th anniversary celebration of Lodge The Hague (in 2022 ), Bernardo Kastrup gave a presentation on analytical idealism. A fascinating treatise, which raised questions in my mind. Is this a western interpretation of eastern views such as Vedanta and Buddhism? How is this view received within Western academia and particularly among philosophy students? Do these propositions align with the thinking of Theosophy?
The starting point
Bernardo Kastrup has - as his name betrays - an international background, but has been living for over twenty years in the Netherlands where he also studied. Here he obtained his PhD in computer technology and studied philosophy. His first job was at CERN in Switzerland, later transferring to Philips in Eindhoven. Over twenty years ago, CERN worked with two methods in research: the classical method and artificial intelligence. Although the results were similar, the classical method was chosen at the time. However, Bernardo continued working with artificial intelligence and discovered that he was able to build a computer as intelligent as a physicist in solving very difficult scientific problems. So identifying data can be done based on human knowledge or through artificial intelligence. The developed computer turned out to be as intelligent as the graduated physicist. At that point, the question arose for Bernardo whether it would also be possible to make the computer conscious. This was the start of his quest. Gradually he discovered that consciousness does not arise from matter but matter from consciousness and that what we call matter is always only a picture of mental processes. (quote Kastrup)
This basic idea led to the philosophical movement he initiated that we call analytical idealism.
The core of analytical idealism
Beforehand, it is useful to mention the word idealism within Western philosophy has a different meaning than in everyday language (which in philosophical terms is called “ethical idealism”). Within philosophy, idealism is a term for movements that emphasize dependence on consciousness. Within these there are distinctions again, and analytical idealism belongs to the current of metaphysical idealism. A better word would be 'ideaism' because it is not about ideals but ideas. But in speech, the 'l ' has crept in.
BERNARDO KASTRUP, a Brazilian-born, Rio de Janeiro 1974, Dutch philosopher and computer scientist
Listening to Bernardo, I understand analytical idealism to mean that the essence of reality is not material but mental. Without consciousness, the world does not exist, because every perception exists in consciousness (in the mind).
For the idealist, an external world exists, just as for the materialist. Both groups believe that an external world exists outside our mind (consciousness). Analytic idealism assumes objective idealism, or in other words, there is an external world made of states that are not made of our own perceptual states but exist independent of our perception. Even if we were not here, the world continues to exist as it is. The materialist says: not only does an external world exist outside our individual minds, that external world is not mental. Analytic idealism agrees that there is an external world outside our minds, but that world is also spiritual, made of external mental states. Just as my thoughts are external from your perspective. If you are not there, I still have thoughts. So external mental states can exist outside our own minds. Similarly, the real world outside our mind is also made of mind. Our cognitive system creates a picture of that external world and we call that the material world. An observation means that those external mental states are made into an image by our cognitive system. So the material world is not the real world as it is, but an image of it made by us during observations.
To clarify this rather tricky matter, Bernardo gives the example of the pilot. He always flies based on the data from his dashboard and does not see the external world itself, but it is presented to him through the signs on his dashboard. That data is necessary and useful, but it is not the real world.
The role of consciousness in Western academia
Traditionally, our Western science has been highly skeptical - not to say hostile - to views that are not purely materialistic. Reasoning, empirical evidence and logic are the unwavering positions of materialism. Anyone who opposes them is hounded away. In his book Why Materialism is Baloney (written in 2013), Bernardo fiercely contests this oppressive tunnel vision. His tone is as combative as that of the materialists. As such, the book was meant to hold a mirror up to them. It is very readable and available on the Internet. Fortunately, the tide is turning somewhat and more and more scientists are gaining an eye for the role of consciousness. But the battle is far from over.
My question of whether analytic idealism assumes one all-encompassing consciousness or multiple consciousnesses gets the following clear answer. If we think that our consciousnesses are all individual and separate, that leads to insoluble problems. Thus, the starting point is the existence of one universal consciousness (pure subjectivity) without self-identification. Within this are different perspectives. We call this “dissociation,” which means: one mind appears to become multiple centers of consciousness. We know this phenomenon from psychiatry in psychiatric patients (pid5). In this sense, we do not have access to the world, although existence is one universal consciousness.
What about people who can read thoughts of others? I am thinking of the program Mindf*ck. Bernardo doesn't want to go into this too much. Dissociation is a natural process (because it exists) and there are no natural processes that are perfect, so exceptions are possible. Our cognitive system takes in only part of the world, that much is clear.
The all-encompassing consciousness of which analytic idealism speaks can be called - as I understand it - nature, from which natural laws arise. Could you think of nature as a higher power or set of higher powers? Bernardo explains that analytic idealism has no entity that protects or guides us (say a God). The laws of nature are not created by anyone. We observe regularities in the behavior of nature, which need not be instituted by anyone. If something is, that something has properties. 'Being' means having properties. Nature exists; similarly, nature has properties. We are part of nature, so our properties are properties of nature. The regularities we observe are reflections of nature's properties. In short, nature behaves as it does because it is what it is.
At present we have no data to prove the hypothesis that there is a designer who designed the universe for a specific purpose. But it cannot be ruled out that in our further development we may discover data that support such a hypothesis. Developments are happening at lightning speed, so there is a chance that as the years go by we will understand things better. We already know nature much better now than humans did two hundred years ago, so it is to be expected that we will discover more and more of the truths that are currently hidden from us. The first signs are there.
Theosophy and the idea of reincarnation
With mostly theosophists reading this journal, the question of possible similarities between Theosophy and analytical idealism arises. Bernardo honestly acknowledges that theosophical thought is not his interest, so he can say little about it. The seven-part division that Theosophy uses to get a grip on reality does not align with analytical idealism.
There can be no return to the flesh according to analytic idealism, for there exists only that one field of consciousness, and flesh is an image in this field. There exists only a field of subjectivity. A physical body is a way that a dissociative process in the mind of nature looks like. If the body is no longer there, neither is the dissociation. So now that a picture of a process does not show everything, it could be that certain aspects of the dissociation persist after the body disappears. Right now there is no reason to take this hypothesis seriously. Perhaps in the future.
Analytic idealism in our daily lives
We all want to be happy and seek a path appropriate to us to that end. Analytical idealism offers many interesting prospects, two of which stand out.
1) Our consciousness is not generated from matter. Matter is an image in our mind. So dying only means that the state of our consciousness changes, not that our consciousness disappears. So death is not the end of our consciousness, but of one particular state of consciousness. After death we can expect a new unexpected kind of experience. You can call it extra-consciousness; that is, it does not diminish. The limitation imposed on us by the present dissociation disappears, so we become freer.
2) Our body is seen by the medical world as a machine, like a car in which you can replace broken parts. Analytic idealism offers a totally different picture: the body is a way in which our mental processes manifest themselves. The mind is not a mechanism but a set of experiences. So many ailments such as cancer, diabetes, etc. are mental conditions. A problem in the body mirrors a problem in the mind. Note: here our ego is not meant! But no doubt readers of Theosofia understand that. In principle, psychological treatment will always be a good possibility for healing. Not only ailments like headaches, depression, etc., but almost all ailments are affected by psychological treatment. Besides surgery and medicine, this opens up a third 3rd dubbel avenue of treatment. More research is needed here.
Western philosophy and Eastern spirituality
Those (like me) who are at home in the teachings of advaita vedanta cannot escape the impression that analytical idealism and advaita vedanta have much in common. Not for nothing did Bernardo Kastrup and Swami Sarvapriyananda (head of The Vedanta Society New York) have a fascinating two-way conversation recently. It is encouraging to me that Bernardo, a young academically trained philosopher who claims not to be well versed in Eastern spiritual systems, is coming on his own to similar insights as Eastern rishis thousands of years ago. How wonderful it can be that in this way we get a synthesis between East and West.
AI (artificial intelligence)
The abbreviation AI could possibly lead to confusion. Therefore, I do not abbreviate analytical idealism in this text.
According to the classification used within Theosophy, intelligence is not the same as consciousness. Therefore, I would prefer to call artificial intelligence artificial thinking capacity.
Bernardo goes along with me on this. He explains that computers and robots can process data in a way that humans do, but the computer does not and never will have a private inner life like humans do. Private conscious inner life is a dissociation of the mind from nature. These are living entities and not an inanimate computer. There is no reason to believe that a computer is an image of a dissociative process in the mind of nature. Artificial intelligence is a simulation of what takes place in the mind of man. It is thought that this simulation is equivalent to the processes being simulated. This is a mistake. A simulation of consciousness is not conscious. However interesting, in the context of this article it is impossible to go into this subject in more detail.
In conclusion
Those interested in learning more about this subject matter are referred to the Essentia Foundation. This organization is committed to producing material on analytic idealism from an analytical and empirical perspective. Several of Bernardo's books can be found on the Internet, in addition to numerous YouTube videos.
Bernardo Kastrup personal website, click HERE
Essentia Foundation, click HERE