Print this page What is Consciousness?

Consciousness is the one thing each of us knows most intimately, yet it remains one of the greatest mysteries in philosophy, science and human thought. Every experience, memory, emotion and perception depends upon consciousness, but despite centuries of inquiry there is still no agreement about what it is, where it comes from, or whether it can ever be fully explained.

This six-week series explores one of humanity's oldest and most profound questions through a sequence of complementary—and sometimes competing—perspectives.

We begin with the mystery itself, asking why consciousness has proved so resistant to explanation. We then journey through the history of ideas, examining how different philosophical traditions have understood consciousness, mind and soul, including Owen Barfield's provocative account of the evolution of human consciousness.

The series then turns to contemporary perspectives, exploring consciousness at the frontiers of modern science and asking what current research can—and cannot—tell us about subjective experience. 

The series culmiates in critical analyis as to whether some of our deepest assumptions and thoughts about consciousness may be fundamentally mistaken.

Rather than presenting a single answer, this series invites participants to engage critically with a rich diversity of perspectives. Together, the presentations reveal why consciousness continues to challenge philosophers, scientists, psychologists and spiritual thinkers alike—and why it remains one of the defining questions of our age, with implications reaching from the nature of the self to the future development of artificial intelligence.

Speakers and Topics are:

Details of each Session

1. The Mystery of Consciousness
Why is consciousness so difficult to understand and investigate? Challenging conventional distinctions between the hard and soft problems, this talk focusses on boundary and limit conditions, which are often overlooked or forgotten, which may help to explain why consciousness remains such a puzzling phenomenon.

2. Is Human Consciousness Declining?
A provocative exploration of whether modern society is diminishing attention, awareness, meaning, and inner life.

3. Consciousness on the Edge of Science
Investigate the frontiers of neuroscience, quantum theories, and the claims regarding paranormal consciousness

4. Owen Barfield and the Devolution of Human Consciousness
Discover Barfield's influential vision of the evolution of consciousness and his challenge to modern assumptions about reality and human perception.

5. A History of the Soul
Trace the changing understanding of the soul from the ancient world to the present day, examining how different cultures have understood the inner self.

6. What Consciousness Isn't
Challenge common assumptions by exploring the idea that consciousness is not an object or thing, but a dynamic process of participation and becoming.