Panpsychism in Catholic Thought

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Kei, what I know about panpsychism is limited. is it based on the thought that consciousness emerges from matter? Is there more to it?

Edit: I just read Random Alias’ post. I guess it is based on that
 
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Kei said:
Also if we want to just expand this to all things being alive in a sense then we could do this as well, they are essentially the same thing on a certain level.
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This would make sense of mystical experiences that sense the love of God in everything. Although I believe it comes from the angelic government.
 
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Prodigal_Son said:
If we interpret panpsychism to be talking about minds, not souls, then it does not directly contradict Catholic teaching, but it nevertheless does not sit well with Catholic teaching.
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But then what does one mean by “mind” if not a Soul. What is it?
 
Some would go as far as to say that matter emerges from mind. Mind is fundamental.
 
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RandomAlias said:
Personally, I think panpsychsim is poppycock, but I don’t see that it relates in any way to Catholic teaching, so how could it contradict Catholic teaching?
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Panpsychism is, roughly speaking, the idea that everything has a mind or spirit.

That is in direct contradiction to Catholic teaching. Trees don’t have spirits. Rocks don’t have minds. Rivers don’t have souls.
 
Benadam said:
Evidence of the phenomenon as I understand it as experiences of interconnected psyche. Like when ideas or inventions rise at the same time at different continents. Phenomenon that connects the mind or thoughts that arise in several places from several people. without physical location as a possible reason for it.
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Coincidence is not evidence for connections.
 
Zaccheus said:
That is in direct contradiction to Catholic teaching. Trees don’t have spirits. Rocks don’t have minds. Rivers don’t have souls.
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Direct contradiction, as I understand it, would exist if Catholic teaching said, for example, “Rocks don’t have minds,” but I can’t recall that the Church ever commented on that.

It’s like if someone says the Tooth Fairy exists. The Catholic Church has not taught that the Tooth Fairy exists, nor has it taught that the Tooth Fairy doesn’t exist. Therefore the assertion that the Tooth Fairy exists, though false, cannot be said to be in “direct contradiction to Catholic teaching.”
Zaccheus said:
Panpsychism is, roughly speaking, the idea that everything has a mind or spirit.
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I think your interpretation is too roughly speaking. The article I quoted describes the idea more like everything has mental properties which in the proper assemblage may make up a mind. Historically it was an attempt to explain the emergence of mind from basic matter. Sure it’s false, but I’m not seeing that it contradicts any specific Catholic teaching.
 
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Rocks aren’t able to receive a soul. That’s doctrine. Nothing sbout mind. Unless it’s a property of the soul.
 
You’re confusing panpsychism with something else.
It doesn’t claim that rocks are alive (though indeed trees DO have souls of the vegetative kind).
It is similar to idealism in the idea that mind is a fundamental, but has some key differences.

It is an easy thing to reject out-of-hand, but it makes more sense than one might initially think. It serves as quite the contrary view to emergentism, and solves the problem of mind.
 
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