Consciousness or Reality: Which One Comes First?
There’s no way we would discuss the concept of consciousness without encountering the two schools of thought that dominate the idea of consciousness. And it is always in relation to reality.
We have already touched a bit on consciousness and reality in articles 6 and 7. This will be our focus until article 12. We’ll get a bit technical.
The idea of consciousness as it relates to reality explores how our subjective awareness interacts with the objective universe to create our subjective experience. This is what helps us make sense of who we are and why we exist.
The two schools of thought I mentioned earlier are materialism and idealism. Materialism is the school of thought that argues that the physical world creates consciousness through brain activity, while idealism and certain theoretical perspectives suggest that consciousness acts as the primary foundation for experiencing reality.
In materialism, matter is all that is. That is, brain cells and chemical processes generate awareness as a byproduct of physical evolution.
In idealism, the physical universe is a projection or representation shaped entirely within a universal or individual mind.
The question is: Which school of thought is right? Which school of thought is true?
This is a part of a series exploring The Concept of Consciousness.
My Books You Can Start Reading Today
