In The History of Philosophy
The view of the world as a macrocosm in relation to the human microcosm was a staple theme in Greek philosophy. In that view it was natural to think about the world in anthropomorphic terms. The view passed into the Medieval period via Neoplatonism, and was shared by Leibniz, Schelling, Schopenhauer and many others.
Josiah Royce (1855–1916), the leading American absolute idealist, held to the panpsychist view, though he didn't necessarily attribute mental properties to the smallest constituents of mentalistic "systems".
The panpsychist doctrine has recently been making a comeback in the American philosophy of mind—for example, Christian de Quincey and Leo Stubenberg have each recently defended it. In the United Kingdom the case for panpsychism has been made by Galen Strawson. In the philosophy of mind, panpsychism is one possible solution to the so-called hard problem of consciousness. The doctrine has also been applied in the field of environmental philosophy through the work of Australian philosopher Freya Mathews.
Read more about this topic: Panpsychism
Famous quotes containing the words history and/or philosophy:
“In history an additional result is commonly produced by human actions beyond that which they aim at and obtain—that which they immediately recognize and desire. They gratify their own interest; but something further is thereby accomplished, latent in the actions in question, though not present to their consciousness, and not included in their design.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“Englishmen are babes in philosophy and so prefer faction-fighting to the labour of its unfamiliar thought.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)