Protevi: Mind in Life, Mind in Process

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Mind in Life, Mind in Process: Towards a New Transcendental Aesthetic and a New Question of Panpsychism

By John Protevi

"The essay examines the idea of “biological space and time” found in Evan Thompson‘s Mind in Life and Gilles Deleuze‘s Difference and Repetition. Tracking down this “new Transcendental Aesthetic” intersects new work done on panpsychism. Both Deleuze and Thompson can be fairly said to be biological panpsychists. That‘s what "Mind in Life" means: mind and life are coextensive; life is a sufficient condition for mind. Deleuze is not just a biological panpsychist, however, so we‘ll have to confront full-fledged panpsychism. At the end of the essay we‘ll be able to pose the question whether or not we can supplement Thompson‘s “Mind in Life” position with a “Mind in Process” position and if so, what that supplement means both for his work and for panpsychism."

Read More (PDF) @ Protevi.Com

Life is a sufficient condition for 'mind' but not visa versa. I remain unconvinced by appeals to "pure experience" (William James) or "prehension" (A.N Whitehead). Instead I would like theorists to drop such silly speculative projections in a move towards a less conflating thinking of the raw potency of things. Moreover, we have to show the genesis of real experience and its complexities (e.g., the difference between perception and conception) from within experience itself (cf. Gleaning the Mesh). What the world needs now is an imaginary that intersects the bold realizations of materialism, ecology and existenz in more intelligent ways. Without a doubt I will have much more to say on this point in the future.