Has anyone else been following Dr. Kastrop’s work? I’m currently reading The Idea of the World. He is presenting an exciting version of metaphysical idealism that I think Wilber would enjoy learning about. Does anyone else agree?
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Finished it recently, starting The Case Against Reality by Donald Hoffman. Would love to hear Ken’s take on this
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I met Donald Hoffman at the TSC conference in Tucson, AZ (and if y’all are interested in this kind of material, I highly recommend TSC 2020 in Tucson this year).
To be clear, I’m not an idealist. Due to this bias, when I see Kastrup arguing about Chalmers’ subject combination problem, I see it as a strawman since there’s no need for subjects to combine, just that subjects of experience can arise from a deeper physicalism. Similarly I find Hoffman to be quite confused. He simultaneously argues for a kind of idealism and evolution without clarifying his ontological primitives. I think Hoffman should be read as promoting a user interface agent theory of perception within a simulated world.
Overall I prefer Galen Strawson (in this general space). His book “Selves” is fantastic and it’s a pleasure to see a top flight philosopher tackle such an important topic. If we can see Ken Wilber as promoting a certain kind of dual-aspect theory (or quad-aspect if you will), then Strawson can be seen as championing physical selves while leaving open how these are “implemented” by nature. (Note that Strawson explicitly draws a line against “cheap” materialism.)
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