Residential College | false |
Status | 已發表Published |
Consciousness as the Supreme Nature | |
Harrison, V. S. | |
2019-06-01 | |
Conference Name | Consciousness: East and West |
Source Publication | Consciousness and Fundamental Reality: Lessons from East Asian Philosophy |
Conference Date | 2019 |
Conference Place | Sun Yat-sen University |
Abstract | The typical western conception of God, held by theists and atheists alike, is of an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient being. As power, goodness, and knowledge are properties of persons, and persons are typically self-conscious, the omni-God of western theism is commonly assumed to be a personal self-conscious being. This package of assumptions is rarely challenged, and philosophical argument targets the question of whether or not there are good reasons to think that such a being exists. Reassessing the connection between consciousness and personhood underlying the omni-God conception will revitalize the philosophy of religion by re-opening the question: What is God? This exercise will lead down a conceptual path barely travelled by western philosophers of religion; a monist path emphasizing the simplicity, aseity, and immutability, of what Anselm of Canterbury refers to as the Supreme Nature. In striking contrast to their comparative neglect in western philosophies, philosophical monisms have been extensively explored by Asian thinkers from the Yogācāra, neo-Confucian, and Advaita Vedānta traditions. In the spirit of fusion philosophy, I will use insights and arguments from these traditions, particularly Advaita Vedānta, to develop a philosophical account of the Supreme Nature as Consciousness that is consistent with key elements of western religious thought, yet which does not give a central place to an omni-God. |
Keyword | Consciousness Personhood God Monism |
Language | 英語English |
The Source to Article | PB_Publication |
Document Type | Conference paper |
Collection | DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES |
Corresponding Author | Harrison, V. S. |
Affiliation | University of Macau |
First Author Affilication | University of Macau |
Corresponding Author Affilication | University of Macau |
Recommended Citation GB/T 7714 | Harrison, V. S.. Consciousness as the Supreme Nature[C], 2019. |
APA | Harrison, V. S..(2019). Consciousness as the Supreme Nature. Consciousness and Fundamental Reality: Lessons from East Asian Philosophy. |
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