Iain McGilchrist & Philip Goff: Is the universe conscious?

Iain McGilchrist & Philip Goff: Is the universe conscious?

UnHerd with Freddie Sayers · 2025-06-12
01:30:45

In this captivating discussion, Iain and Philip ask what makes us who we are? Are we merely our brains, or does science only capture part of the human story? Is the universe conscious?


Dr. Iain McGilchrist, renowned psychiatrist, neuroscience researcher, philosopher, and author of the critically acclaimed The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World, engages in a thought-provoking event at the UnHerd club with Professor Philip Goff, a leading panpsychist philosopher from Durham University and author of Galileo’s Error: Foundations for a New Science of Consciousness.


McGilchrist and Goff dive into the intersections of neuroscience, philosophy, and consciousness, exploring the limits of reductionist science, the nature of the self, and the profound implications of their work for understanding the human mind and its place in the cosmos.


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UnHerd with Freddie Sayers

Freddie Sayers from online magazine UnHerd seeks out top scientists, writers, politicians and thinkers for in-depth interviews to try and help us work out what’s really going on. What started as an inquiry into the pandemic has broadened into a fascinating look at free speech, science, meaning and the ideas shaping our world.


Due to popular demand here is a podcast version of our YouTube — available to watch, for free here or by searching ‘LockdownTV’.


Enjoy! And don't forget to rate, like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

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