Within Reason #128 Bernardo Kastrup - Materialism is Complete Nonsense
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Nov 2, 2025 
Bernardo Kastrup, a philosopher and computer scientist known for his work on consciousness and analytic idealism, dives deep into the limitations of materialism. He argues that physical objects are merely reflections of mental states and critiques materialism's inability to adequately explain consciousness. The conversation explores the distinction between qualities and quantities, the nature of the self, and how consciousness exists independently of sensory perception. Kastrup also challenges panpsychism and emphasizes our experiences as integrated complexes rather than isolated entities.
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Sensory Deprivation Illustration
- Kastrup points to sensory-deprivation tanks as experiences close to existing without external perception.
- In that state you retain thought, memory and feeling while perception of extension and texture vanishes.
IIT Explains Boundary Formation
- Integrated Information Theory (IIT) offers a mechanism for how mental states bind into complexes with boundaries.
- Complexes maximize integrated information and can shed parts, forming separations that appear as external world.
Core Subjectivity Vs Narrative Self
- Kastrup denies a permanent personal self but asserts a core subjectivity exists: non-personal 'Self' or subject-of-experience.
- He proposes one unified field of subjectivity whose patterns produce diverse experiences.
