Is Matter a Property or State of Consciousness?

As far back as Descartes, philosophical and spiritual traditions have been trying to reconcile dualism to no avail. Hylomorphism emerged as an attractive synthesis between mind and body: “man became a living soul.”

It seems to me that the science is moving towards a position whereby a thought or emotion may end up being material like an electric charge. Consciousness may well end up being a state of the entity like temperature, as opposed to an independent one.

If consciousness becomes like temperature or something similarly mundane to science, can one lose subjectivity? Some might say that the immaterial is an illusion.

In my mind, either consciousness ends up being a material property or state, or we accept a belief in the immaterial, transcendental and if so, then why not the spiritual?

Then Max Plank throws a spanner in the works by suggesting that the material (matter) is a property or state of consciousness!

“…. I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness….”

Max Plank

Go figure.

Cecil (CJ) John is an architect, technologist and innovator and has worked with some of the largest companies in the world including the IMF, US Federal Government and some of the top 5 consulting companies. If you like what you have read, you can follow me on Medium for more great content. You can also sign up for my newsletter or contact me by email, Linkedin or Twitter.