All Things Are Full Of Gods by David Bentley Hart. A summary and discussion
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
- All Things Are Full Of Gods is David Bentley Hart’s philosophical case for an idealist and theist understanding of consciousness, understood as an intertwining of mind, language and life. As he puts it: “Mind and life, and language too, are possibly only by way of a kind of “downward causation” that informs their “upward” evolution in particular beings.”
The book is also a careful debunking of materialist alternative explanations such as that mind emerges from matter, that consciousness is an illusion, or that consciousness doesn’t really exist at all; it is a careful examination of everything from eliminativism to integrated information theory, from the ideas of Daniel Dennett to those of Philip Goff.
Personally, I also hugely valued the book because it is, in a way, therapeutic. A nihilist cosmos has become default and it is not only intolerable to live in, it is gaslighting. A thought or experience is only possible because we have capacities for attention and intention, desire and perception, communication and participation - and following those qualities through, leads to the realisation that consciousness is not born in us, but that we are born in consciousness.
As on of his characters, Psyche, puts it: the mind’s “transcendental preoccupation with an infinite horizon of intelligibility that, for want of a better word, we should call God; and that the existence of all things is possible only as the result of an infinite act of intelligence that, once again, we should call God.”
David Bentley Hart’s repeated point, as his interlocutors propose and take apart the materialist explanations, is that everything we might experience explodes with meanings. That is what mind does, in response to the life within which it is immersed.
That said, the book ends on a downbeat note. Psyche hopes the we humans “might yet learn to know themselves in a new way as spiritual beings immersed in a world of spirit, rather than machines of consumption inhabiting a machine of production, and remember that which lies deepest within themselves: living mind, the divine ground of consciousness and life, participating in an infinite act of thought and communication, dwelling in a universe full of gods and full of God.” The book is, of course, an invitation and nudge to do so.
Been listening to this one, it’s probably the best philosophy book of the past 10 years
Is it readable for non scholastics?
Thanks Mark, and well done - as per usual of course ! Couldn't help being drawn by the pair of pears ! X x
Look forward to watching this. The book is excellent!
Agreed
I think that Max Leyf and David Bentley are by far the best idealist philosophers of our time. This book, “All Things Full Of Gods”, is a jewel.
... And B.Kastrup
Really helpful introduction. Thanks Mark
Helpful for me to attempt, too!
Splendid review and thank you for it ❤
Thx Mark ... Very interesting
I've really been looking forward to this book, he's been talking for some time about writing one on the nature of cosciousness.
Doesn't disappoint
Reflection is key.
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"Before I start, I must see my end. Destination known, my mind's journey now begins. Upon my chariot, heart and soul's fate revealed. In time, all points converge; hope's strength, resteeled. But to earn final peace at the universe's endless refrain, we must see all in nothingness... before we start again."
🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨
--Diamond Dragons (series)
"The mind is not reducible to the brain any more than the meaning of a book can be found by reducing the book to merely the print on the page" - The mind is not reducible to the brain alone, but rather to the interactions within its particular environment: the brain, light, temperature, sensations, ongoing feelings and perceptions, etc. In the same way, the meaning of a book is not fixed; it may change as one interprets it based on their experience at that moment. Nothing is fixed, and while an experience cannot be reduced to a single element, it can be understood as the sum of environmental factors, which are often overlooked.
That's becoming part of the new biology, too, I believe.
whoa
I cannot wait to read this. Heard about it via John Vervaeke. I deeply appreciate your Dante videos, Mark. How much have you read of Kathleen Raine?
Raine on Blake is fundamental, yes. Though my Blake is more Christian to her more directly Neoplatonist.
Where did you hear Vervaeke bring it up? Would be interested to hear what he said. I’ve heard him mention DBH generally but not with regard to All Things Are Full of Gods.
Much love from kenya ...concerning canto 33 kindly can someone nake me understand more...what is the devine will or should we just live in accordance to our own understanding
Dante says we humans have two aspects to our will - the personal will that usually rules or tries to, and the divine will within us as a kind of moral compass pointing towards what's true and beautiful. The spiritual life is, therefore, aligning the personal will with the divine will, to the extent that the personal becomes divine. Easier said than done...
Hi Mark, just to let you know, whenever I try to download or listen to these discussions via Apple Podcasts, they nearly always say ‘unable to download’ and ‘temporarily unavailable’.
Hmm. I don't use that I fear and don't understand what's wrong. Will check buzzsprout that I use to host. Spotify seems to be fine - open.spotify.com/episode/1Sz0WEBpjr33WSlCIGNh1s?si=hF6q8NVbR3Oow-eZbNAfhg
Here's the Apple Podcasts link - podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/all-things-are-full-of-gods-by-david-bentley-hart/id1546601983?i=1000671977851
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