Consciousness and the Western Mind:
Program Introduction

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Lesson series
  • Self-Paced
  • 53 mins Video
  • James (Instructor)
Course overview
Consciousness & the Western Mind: From Physicalism to Idealism explores one of the most profound questions in philosophy, science, and human inquiry: What is the true nature of consciousness? Beginning with the dominant materialist worldview of modern science, the program guides participants through contemporary debates on mind, matter, and reality, culminating in the emerging paradigm of metaphysical idealism. Drawing on philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, and scientific spirituality, participants will gain a deeper understanding of consciousness and its implications for our understanding of self, reality, and human potential.
Instructor

Dr. James B. Glattfelder

James B. Glattfelder is an author and academic focused on the foundations of reality, consciousness, and the limits of knowledge. He holds an M.Sc. in theoretical physics and a Ph.D. in complex systems, both from ETH Zurich, and is an established public speaker whose work has received wide media coverage.

He is the author of two books: Information—Consciousness—Reality (Springer, 2019), an open-access monograph on a new scientific paradigm, and The Sapient Cosmos (Essentia Books, 2025), a synthesis of science and philosophy exploring information, complexity, and meaning.

Beyond academia, James spent sixteen years as a quant in traditional finance and the distributed ledger space, and held a postdoctoral position at the University of Zurich's Department of Banking and Finance. He is a frequent blogger, grew up in the Swiss mountains, and is happily married.
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