Probing the enigma of consciousness

I’ve published about 70 book reviews here at Medium in the last four years or so and it’s been rare for an author to contact me afterwards — not that I would expect authors to do so, of course. Few come to mind who did get in touch but it was a pleasure to make contact with them.

So I’m delighted to have heard now from Jeffrey Laird, author of Portalism: An externalist theory of consciousness (Iff Books, December 2022) who has taken the trouble to answer some questions I raised in my review (which you can read here).

Jeffrey wrote to me (January 9, 2023): ‘Thank you so much for your generous review of my book. It is indeed fulfilling to know that my ideas agree at least in part with other thinkers and that they may foster further thought in regards to the enigma of consciousness.

‘I was glad to see that you mention Dr Kastrup in your remarks, as his ideas on contemporary monist idealism (now analytic idealism), along with David Chalmers’ unique brand of dualism, were largely responsible for me beginning this project back in 2020. The ideas of both men were great influences upon me.’

A philosophy enthusiast for decades and recently retired from a 35-year career in geographic information systems technology, Jeffrey has degrees in geography from George Mason University and in philosophy from the University of…