Episode
Philip Goff: Consciousness, Mysticism, and God [Mysticism III 2/3]
- Podcast
- 18Forty Podcast
- Published
- Dec 16, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 5136
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Summary
Check out our new series in partnership with SHARE, 18 Questions, 40 Jewish Mystics . In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast , we speak with Philip Goff—a philosophy professor who devotes much of his work to investigating the ultimate nature of reality—about consciousness, mysticism, and God. We also hear from Rabbi Eli Rubin about the possibility of “Jewish panpsychism.” In this episode we discuss: What is the relationship between consciousness and scientific observation? How should people find purpose in their lives? How does a secular philosopher make the decision to turn to religion? Tune in to hear a conversation about whether mysticism has scientific credibility. Interview begins at 9:22. Philip Goff is a philosophy professor at Durham University, UK, where he devotes much of his work to investigating the ultimate nature of reality. He publishes weekly interviews and articles on his Substack . Goff is known for defending panpsychism as the best available theory of consciousness; his TEDx talk, " Is there consciousness beyond the brain? " presents this view to a wider audience. His recent book, Why? The Purpose of the Universe (Oxford University Press, 2023), explores panpsychism as a middle ground between traditional belief in God and secular atheism. He is a recent convert to a form of “heretical Christianity". References: Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity by Eli Rubin Galileo's Error by Philip Goff My Bright Abyss by Christian Wiman The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter Tanya Chapter 2 Why? The Purpose of the Universe by Philip Goff Mind & Cosmos by Thomas Nagel Purpose in the Universe by Tim Mulgan Universes by John Leslie For more 18Forty: NEWSLETTER: 18forty.org/join CALL: (212) 582-184…