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Tallis in Wonderland

Against Panpsychism

Raymond Tallis argues that mind is not everywhere.

Ontology, the branch of philosophy that tries to establish what kinds of beings there are or determine the basic categories of being, is in a rather bad way.

It is sometimes treated with disdain by those who feel that the last word on the ground floor of reality belongs to the natural sciences, notably physics. This view is not confined to physicists and their camp followers, but is shared by many philosophers. In the glorious polemic that opens Every Thing Must Go (2008), James Ladyman lambasts philosophers for relying on their intuitions to address questions about ultimate reality instead of getting up to speed with current physical theory.

As if that were not bad enough, philosophy itself seems to have reached an impasse in addressing traditional ontological questions, particularly those that arise from the ‘mind-body problem’.

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