Portrait of Bernardo Kastrup

Bernardo Kastrup

Philosopher and Computer Engineer

Bernardo Kastrup is the executive director of Essentia Foundation. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another Ph.D. in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, Bernardo has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the 'Casimir Effect' of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years now, having co-founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, Bernardo's ideas have been featured on Scientific American, the Institute of Art and Ideas, the Blog of the American Philosophical Association, and Big Think, among others. Bernardo's 11th book, coming in 2024, is "Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century's only plausible metaphysics."

2 Documents

Filter

Sort

Alphabetic

Date

Duration

Word Count

Popularity

Cover image for The Idea of the World

The Idea of the World

A rigorous case for the primacy of mind in nature, from philosophy to neuroscience, psychology and physics. The Idea of the World offers a grounded alternative to the frenzy of unrestrained abstractions and unexamined assumptions in philosophy and science today. This book examines what can be learned about the nature of reality based on conceptual parsimony, straightforward logic and empirical evidence from fields as diverse as physics and neuroscience. It compiles an overarching case for idealism - the notion that reality is essentially mental - from ten original articles the author has previously published in leading academic journals. The case begins with an exposition of the logical fallacies and internal contradictions of the reigning physicalist ontology and its popular alternatives, such as bottom-up panpsychism. It then advances a compelling formulation of idealism that elegantly makes sense of - and reconciles - classical and quantum worlds. The main objections to idealism are systematically refuted and empirical evidence is reviewed that corroborates the formulation presented here. The book closes with an analysis of the hidden psychological motivations behind mainstream physicalism and the implications of idealism for the way we relate to the world.

The Universe in Consciousness

Imagine a world where everything is connected by a single mind. In his paper, Bernardo Kastrup argues that reality is fundamentally mental, not physical. He suggests that what we perceive as individual consciousness is actually fragments of a universal consciousness. Kastrup challenges the mainstream view of materialism, proposing instead that the mind is the primary substance of the universe. By integrating concepts from psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, he presents a compelling case for a mental universe, urging us to rethink our understanding of reality.

Mentioned in 1 document

Ruben Laukkonen and Shamil Chandaria

A Beautiful Loop

Laukkonen and Chandaria propose that consciousness arises from a recursive brain process involving three key elements: a reality model, competitive inferences reducing uncertainty, and a self-aware feedback loop. This framework explains various states of awareness, including meditation, psychedelic experiences, and minimal consciousness. It also offers insights into artificial intelligence by connecting awareness to self-reinforcing predictions. The authors’ theory suggests that consciousness emerges when the brain’s reality model becomes self-referential, creating a “knowing itself” phenomenon. This recursive process underlies different levels of conscious experience and potentially informs AI development.