---
date: '2026-01-28'
description: mentality as fundamental, russell's move, the combination problem
id: panpsychism
modified: 2026-06-05 15:08:05 GMT-04:00
seealso:
  - '[[thoughts/dualism]]'
  - '[[thoughts/physicalism]]'
  - '[[thoughts/qualia]]'
  - '[[thoughts/phenomenal consciousness]]'
  - '[[thoughts/functionalism]]'
  - '[[thoughts/philosophical zombies]]'
socials:
  sep: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/panpsychism/
  wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panpsychism
tags:
  - philosophy
  - consciousness
title: panpsychism
created: '2026-01-28'
published: '2026-01-28'
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permalink: https://aarnphm.xyz/thoughts/panpsychism.md
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---
panpsychism says mentality is fundamental and widespread in nature. Current analytic versions usually claim minimal experience, then leave belief and language to larger systems. [SEP panpsychism](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/panpsychism/)

the motivation is the gap in [[thoughts/physicalism]]. If physics gives relations and dispositions, Russell’s move asks what the intrinsic nature of the physical is. Panpsychist versions answer with experiential or proto-experiential properties.

the cost is the combination problem. If many small subjects or proto-phenomenal properties exist, the theory still has to explain how they compose into one subject with one experience. [SEP Russellian monism](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/russellian-monism/) Without that bridge, panpsychism relocates the hard problem.