I have a degree in psychology from the University of Northampton and a master's degree in philosophy from the California Institute of Integral Studies. My primary interests are philosophy of mind, evolutionary psychology, metaethics, and longtermism.
I host the podcast and video series, Waking Cosmos which explores the metaphysics of consciousness, ethics, long termism and broader philosophical questions about our situation in reality.
Focusing on the Western intellectual lineage, this essay traces the human archetypal metaphor for... more Focusing on the Western intellectual lineage, this essay traces the human archetypal metaphor for the universe as it shifts three times, from that of a great mind, to a great machine, to the modern-day transition toward an organismic view of the universe. We explore how the way we talk about nature can ultimately be scaled to a grounding cosmic metaphor, which itself comes to serve as the lens through which we interpret our deepest questions, - about what we are, and our place in reality. Discussed are the implications of the emerging organismic paradigm to the fundamental orientation of the self to the world, to other beings, and its place in reality.
In exploring the question of free will, this essay encounters the apparent confrontation between ... more In exploring the question of free will, this essay encounters the apparent confrontation between determinism and our sense of agency as conscious, rational actors in the universe. In an attempt to make sense of this issue and the moral, sociological and cosmological implications involved in dealing with it, several forms of argument are explored. Finally I investigate the possibility that an explanation will involve a view of consciousness as an intrinsic rather than incidental feature of nature, and that a full understanding of free will necessitates a deeper excavation of the character of the universe out of which we emerge.
Focusing on the Western intellectual lineage, this essay traces the human archetypal metaphor for... more Focusing on the Western intellectual lineage, this essay traces the human archetypal metaphor for the universe as it shifts three times, from that of a great mind, to a great machine, to the modern-day transition toward an organismic view of the universe. We explore how the way we talk about nature can ultimately be scaled to a grounding cosmic metaphor, which itself comes to serve as the lens through which we interpret our deepest questions, - about what we are, and our place in reality. Discussed are the implications of the emerging organismic paradigm to the fundamental orientation of the self to the world, to other beings, and its place in reality.
In exploring the question of free will, this essay encounters the apparent confrontation between ... more In exploring the question of free will, this essay encounters the apparent confrontation between determinism and our sense of agency as conscious, rational actors in the universe. In an attempt to make sense of this issue and the moral, sociological and cosmological implications involved in dealing with it, several forms of argument are explored. Finally I investigate the possibility that an explanation will involve a view of consciousness as an intrinsic rather than incidental feature of nature, and that a full understanding of free will necessitates a deeper excavation of the character of the universe out of which we emerge.
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