Bernardo Kastrup (born 21 October 1974) is a Dutch[1][2] philosopher and computer engineer[3] whose work centres on consciousness studies and analytic idealism, a form of metaphysical idealism developed within the analytic tradition. He questions physicalism and argues that consciousness lies at the foundation of reality.
Kastrup serves as executive director of the Essentia Foundation, a Dutch charity in the field of consciousness studies and metaphysics,[4] and is the founder and CEO of the AI systems company Euclyd.[5]
Life
Kastrup was born in the Niterói municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[6] He later relocated to Switzerland, before settling in the Netherlands.[7]
In the field of philosophical investigation and dissemination, Kastrup is the executive director of the Essentia Foundation, a Dutch nonprofit that publishes and curates work on metaphysics from an idealist perspective.[15][16] He has published in both academic and popular venues, including Scientific American.[17]
Philosophical work
Kastrup's work focuses on "analytic idealism", which he interprets as a philosophical system that posits phenomenal consciousness as the primary substrate of existence, with individual minds representing dissociated segments of a universal consciousness.[18][19][20] In an opinion article in Scientific American, he argued for an idealist alternative to mainstream interpretations of consciousness,[21] and in his books, including Why Materialism is Baloney, The Idea of the World, and Decoding Jung's Metaphysics, he explored the implications of analytic idealism for understanding mind and reality.[22]
Kastrup has expressed a connection between his philosophical views and Advaita Vedanta, a non-dualistic school of Hindu philosophy. He has participated in discussions with Swami Sarvapriyananda of the Ramakrishna Order, exploring the intersections between analytic idealism and Advaita philosophy.[29] In various interviews, Kastrup has stated that his concept of analytic idealism is a modern interpretation of ideas that were prevalent in the Indus Valley thousands of years ago, specifically referring to the non-dualistic teachings found in the Upanishads. In a YouTube video titled "Which religion would you choose?", Kastrup remarked, "Amongst the world religions, all of which I respect profoundly, intellectually I have profound affinity with the Indian tradition, and that's for obvious reasons. Analytic idealism is a modern dressing of what was known to the people in Indus Valley".[30]
↑Goff, Philip (8 July 2020). "Response to Bernardo Kastrup". Conscience and Consciousness. Archived from the original on 14 September 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
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