Pansychism; a supporting essay (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, September 04, 2019, 09:58 (1908 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: …. I think God planned and created us with His mind, and therefore we live in it.

dhw: I can understand him using his mind to plan and create us. I can’t understand “therefore we live in it”. Do rocks and grains of sand and drops of water also live in it? Then “it” would mean the material universe, but God is not “true matter in any sense”. On the other hand, in the context of panpsychism and your panentheism: If your God is within as well as without the universe, is he also present in rocks etc.? What would that mean? (I am only trying to understand your thinking here – this is not a criticism.)

DAVID: I accept the reality of the Earth as God created it. I think rocks are solid matter without any psychic abilities. God provided consciousness where it was really needed.

This doesn’t explain what you mean by us “living in God’s mind” or earlier by us “living in the consciousness of God”. As material beings, we live in a material universe. If your God is within as well as without that universe (= panentheism) how can he not be in all the material particles that make up the universe (panpsychism)? Again, I’m not criticizing – I’m just trying to understand what these different expressions actually mean.