Personhood, consciousness, and god: how to be a proper pantheist

In this paper I develop a theory of personhood which leaves open the possibility of construing the universe as a person. If successful, it removes one bar to endorsing pantheism. I do this by examining a rising school of thought on personhood, on which persons, or selves, are understood as identical...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal for philosophy of religion
Main Author: Coleman, Sam (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V [2019]
In: International journal for philosophy of religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Consciousness / Person / Pantheism
RelBib Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
NBC Doctrine of God
Further subjects:B Panqualityism
B Pantheism
B Consciousness
B Panpsychism
B Russellian monism
B Panentheism
B Self
B Unconscious
B God
B Personhood
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Summary:In this paper I develop a theory of personhood which leaves open the possibility of construing the universe as a person. If successful, it removes one bar to endorsing pantheism. I do this by examining a rising school of thought on personhood, on which persons, or selves, are understood as identical to episodes of consciousness. Through a critique of this experiential approach to personhood, I develop a theory of self as constituted of qualitative mental contents, but where these contents are also capable of unconscious existence. On this theory, though we can be conscious of our selves, consciousness turns out to be inessential to personhood. This move, I then argue, provides resources for responding to the pantheist's problem of God's person.
ISSN:1572-8684
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal for philosophy of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s11153-018-9689-7