Marist Workshop

Consciousness as Fundamental 

Marist Colllege

Poughkeepsie, New York, USA

8-9 September 2023

September 8

Location: Student Center Room 3101

9:30-12:45: Session One: Consciousness as Fundamental in the Philosophy of Mind

Presenters:

• Annaka Harris (Independent Scholar), "Is Consciousness Fundamental?"

• Hedda Hassell Mørch (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences), "Subjects within Subjects? Why the Cosmic Mind Can’t Overlap with Mine"

• Luke Roelefs (University of Texas-Arlington), "The Varieties of (Un)Boundedness"

Respondent: 

• Philip Goff (Durham University)

12:45-13:45: Lunch

14:00-16:30 Session Two: Consciousness as Fundamental in the Philosophy of Religion

Presenters: 

• Swami Medhananda (University of California-Los Angeles and University of Southern California), "Can Advaita Vedānta Solve the Hard Problem of Consciousness?"

• Paul Draper (Purdue University), "From Psychological Ether Theory to Panpsychotheism: Bridging the Gap Between Fundamental Consciousness and God" 

Respondent: 

• Andrei A. Buckareff (Marist College)

19:00-21:00: Debate (Nelly Goletti Theater): Free and open to the public

Topic: "Is Consciousness Fundamental?"

Link for livestream

Participants:

• Philip Goff (Durham University)

• Sean Carroll (Johns Hopkins University and the Santa Fe Institute)

September 9:

Location: Student Center 3101 (from 9:00-15:10)

9:00-12:15: Session Three: Consciousness as Fundamental in Physics

Presenters:

• Donald D. Hoffman (University of California-Irvine), "Spacetime is a Headset"

• William Simpson (University of Texas-Austin and Cambridge University), "Cosmopsychism and the Laws of Physics: A Teleological Perspective"

• Lee Smolin (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics), "Quantum Cosmology of the Future and Awareness of the Present"

Respondent: 

Sean Carroll (Johns Hopkins University and the Santa Fe Institute)

12:15-13:00: Lunch

13:10-15:10: Panel discussion about the sessions 

Panelists:

• Rebecca Chan (San José State University)

• Yanssel Garcia (University of Nebraska-Omaha) 

• Dean Zimmerman (Rutgers University-New Brunswick)

15:30-17:00: Closing Keynote Lecture 

Location: Student Center 3101

Speaker:

• Michael Tye (University of Texas-Austin), "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Panpsychism"

Note: Anyone not invited to attend the conference will need to sign up by August 15 here. We have a very limited amount of space and are prioritizing faculty from other institutions, post-docs, and graduate students. When registering, please use an email from the institution with which you are affiliated. For further information, please contact Andrei Buckareff: <andrei.buckareff@marist.edu>