KNOWING, DOING AND BEING

In this short and succinct but ambitious book, Chris Clarke proposes new foundations for consciousness studies based on scientific findings of the last 50 years. The book has seven chapters and extensive footnotes, with useful summaries at the end of the chapter. Chris follows in the footsteps of Immanuel Kant in arguing that 'what we know about our world is conditioned by our capacity from knowing things, which establishes a connection at a fundamental level between knowing and what is known;' in this respect, the basis of our knowing is consciousness. Using his expertise as a mathematical physicist, Chris explores the connection between quantum theory and consciousness - what we know, what we are and how we act - hence the title referring to knowing, doing and being. In this context, consciousness refers to the essentially subjective aspect of our knowing as distinct from the more formal part that can be embodied in language.

One of the most important concepts running through the book is the division in the components of mind between the relational or implicational and the propositional (based on the work of Teasdale and Barnard) and paralleled by Iain McGilchrist's work on the distinction between right and left hemisphere styles of thinking. A key point is that 'the dominant scientific view rests only on our propositional knowing but nonetheless it identifies our current scientific theories with "reality".' Needless to say, Chris regards this as too narrow a definition of reality and seeks 'a wholeness of knowing' beyond this. He discusses Kant's important notion of apperception or understanding of sense perception in relation to ourselves, taking up the challenge to investigate this in the light of modern developments. Some researchers like Nagel have pursued this question from the inside, while others like Dennett articulate a mechanistic, outside-in approach. Chris offers his own definition of consciousness as 'the form of our total subjective experience.' This allows him to incorporate spirituality in the scope of his exploration and to postulate pure being beyond any particular states. In this context, spirituality is an exploration of the relational subsystem.

The next chapter on quantum theory is the most technical, but key concepts are clearly articulated and explained, including measurement, entanglement, histories and quantum cosmology. We ourselves are an integral part of any system, which makes the notion of pure observation problematic. As Chris observes, physics has no notion of being because this belongs to the relational rather than the propositional way of knowing. He now moves on to a more detailed consideration of the subsystems of the mind and the ways in which they have become distinguished in the history of philosophy, linking the rise of the propositional with Aristotle. He argues that our relational knowing must once more be acknowledged as an essential part of being human, but also of physics. Here he draws on the work of Matte Blanco on symmetric logic, paralleled with developments in quantum logic and points to a common core relating to some systems in context dependent association allowing for degrees of truth.

In answer to the question of what consciousness does, Chris states that it delivers a real universe. He explores will and intention in the light of the experiments with random number generators, commenting on the small effect size and its implication that consciousness cannot initiate quantum collapse. Any adequate theoretical framework must model what the propositional receives from the relational and it is here that he reintroduces the notion of being – of which consciousness and brain are aspects. His own theory proposes the notion of assertion as an alternative to observation, and indicates how this could contribute to an adequate theoretical underpinning of parapsychology. In the next chapter on what things are conscious, he sums up the argument so far, calling those things that have consciousness beings. He suggests that the cosmos is a being at the top level in the hierarchy of nested beings and corresponding to the relationship between cosmic and individual consciousness.

Any new programme for consciousness studies must in some way connect our propositional and relational knowing of consciousness, which we can pursue through praxis. Chris links this with the work of Matthew Fox and Brian Swimme that involves the wholeness of our being as what Spinoza called conatus, the striving of each being to persist in its own being. He ends by sounding a note of self-awareness about the recondite nature of his discussion of quantum theory and consciousness. Important as this is, social and ecological justice is arguably even more important, and which Chris takes equally seriously. He is able to integrate these in himself and encourages readers to pursue their own integral path. This is a book that repays close attention and reflection and is an important contribution to the interface between science and spirituality and between the relational and propositional subsystems of the mind.