Panpsychism and the Religious Attitude

Defends panpsychism, the view that mentality is present in all natural bodies with unified and persisting organization.

Human beings have thoughts, sensations, and feelings and think that at least some of this mental life is shared with domestic and wild animals. But, are there reduced degrees of mentality found in mosquitoes, bacteria, and even more primitive natural bodies? Panpsychists think so and have defended this belief throughout the history of philosophy, beginning with the ancient Greeks and continuing into the present. In this bold, challenging book, D. S. Clarke outlines reasons for accepting panpsychism and defends the doctrine against its critics. He proposes it as an alternative to the mechanistic materialism and humanism that dominate present-day philosophy.

"Clarke doesn't make overblown claims of having proven the validity of the panpsychist position, preferring instead to have rendered it in a way that makes it a plausible alternative to humanism and mechanism. For too long, the panpsychist position has been tied to a theological mission. This book is fascinating in the ways it works to disentangle panpsychism from those problems." — Warren G. Frisina, author of The Unity of Knowledge and Action: Toward a Nonrepresentational Theory of Knowledge

"While the discussion is focused on contemporary thinkers, Clarke situates the debate within the history of Western thought. This gives historical depth to the argument. Though the argument is primarily Anglo-American analytical philosophy in orientation, it takes seriously other types of philosophical approaches with sympathy and understanding." — J. Harley Chapman, coeditor of Interpreting Neville