The Science Delusion

Description

Rupert Sheldrake is a (moderate?-)panpsychist.

cf. this argument against panpsychism:

Major : All living organisms are substances that 'move themselves intrinsically (sese movent ab intrinseco) according to their nature and conserve themselves in their perfection'--viz., substances that perform the intrinsic motions of nutrition and reproduction (cf. Hugon, Cursus philosophiae thomisticae , II-II, Tract. I, Art. II, n. III [p. 153 //PDFp. 161 , part of his refutation of atomism: "It belongs to the notion of a living thing that it can move from within."].).

Minor : Not all things are substances that 'move themselves intrinsically according to their nature and conserve themselves in their perfection'--viz., substances that perform the intrinsic motions of nutrition and reproductions.

Conclusion : Therefore, not all things are living organisms.

Against materialism/physicalism, I believe it suffices to say:

P1 : If matter alone were capable of conserving the substantial unity of a living thing, then every body would be alive.

P2 : If matter alone cannot conserve the substantial unity of a living thing, then some formal cause is required for a living organism to conserve its substantial unity.

P3 : But not every body is alive.

Conclusion : Therefore, some formal cause is necessary for a living organism to conserve its substantial unity--and we call this formal cause of living organisms 'the soul'.

Sheldrake's full EU-UK18 presentation "Is the sun conscious?" is online. He argues against Cartesian mechanism. I first heard about him because he promotes the concept of habitus over that of "physical law" (cf. ch. 3 "Are the Laws of Nature Fixed?"). He seems a bit Averroist, though, when he speaks of "collective memory"; toward the end of his presentation, he incorrectly thinks that God knows "through" the E&M field of the universe.

The science delusion is the belief that science already understands the nature of reality. The fundamental questions are answered, leaving only the details to be filled in. In this book, Dr Rupert Sheldrake, one of the world's most innovative scientists, shows that science is being constricted by assumptions that have hardened into dogmas. The sciences would be better off without them: freer, more interesting, and more fun. According to the dogmas of science, all reality is material or physical. The world is a machine, made up of dead matter. Nature is purposeless. Consciousness is nothing but the physical activity of the brain. Free will is an illusion. God exists only as an idea in human minds, imprisoned within our skulls. But should science be a belief-system, or a method of enquiry? Sheldrake shows that the materialist ideology is moribund; under its sway, increasingly expensive research is reaping diminishing returns. In the skeptical spirit of true science, Sheldrake turns the ten fundamental dogmas of materialism into exciting questions, and shows how all of them open up startling new possibilities. The Science Delusion will radically change your view of what is possible. and give you new hope for the world. **