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Extra-Long (>70 mins)
Philosophy
Orthodox

Why Materialism Can't Explain Consciousness | David Bentley Hart

Theologian

David Bentley Hart


Duration

81.15


Uploaded to YouTube

26 February 2026

Added to Database

8 April 2026


YouTube description

Theologian and philosopher David Bentley Hart explains the contours of his argument against materialism is his new book, All Things Are Full of Gods: The Mysteries of Mind and Life. We explore his idealist leanings, the claim that a mechanistic approach to nature could never explain consciousness, and the thesis that atman is brahman, that I am fundamentally identical to infinite consciousness.

This interview is also available as a podcast: https://open.substack.com/pub/mileskdonahue/p/73-why-materialism-cant-explain-consciousness?r=1pf1v9&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

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EPISODE CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:42 What do we mean by "mind"?
00:09:24 Are you an idealist?
00:15:21 Panpsychism
00:28:18 Convince me that consciousness exists at all.
00:46:09 Sean Carroll's case for naturalism, considered
00:54:14 Is this just a type of "God of the gaps" reasoning?
01:00:34 Do fine-tuning and cosmological arguments for God succeed?
01:07:47 Is atman Brahman?
01:12:50 Does this mean that I am God?
01:19:34 What are you most uncertain of?