Introduction
The Western anthropocentric worldview has influenced many people’s thinking, beliefs, behaviors, and values. Anthropocentrism is a belief system that views people as the most significant creatures in the universe. The Western worldview is characterized by its emphasis on materialism, explanatory conceivability, epistemic arguments, mind-body substance dualism, and casual arguments that correlate to materialism and undermine the dualism truth. Materialism argues that explanations are grounded in properties and material things. This relates to the self that enables interaction between the body and the surroundings, which promotes systematic engagement without considering individualism. The view of self promotes philosophical concepts such as politics, ethics, and spirituality. The essay is about the Western anthropocentric worldview, and it is aimed at accomplishing research that explores self and nature with philosophical concerns over consciousness.
Discussion
The dilemma in the consciousness concept regarding the natural world is critical in reflecting the more profound philosophical concern over nature and self, which relates to the Western, anthropocentric worldview. Human beings try to fit into the materialistic concept and develop relationships with the natural world. This involves considering the traditional concept of nature as a materialistic realm governed by deterministic principles and immaterial consciousness that existed out of the natural sequence. This resulted in the dualism between mind and matter, creating separable views that dissociated the human mind from the natural world (Chalmers, n.d). The dualism concept suggests that human beings are disconnected from the natural world.
This dualistic view promotes a contradicting image of human understanding of the natural world and its place in it. Humans are unique creatures with the capacity to manipulate and comprehend the world. Broad’s concept of the taxonomy of views on the relationship between mental and physical points out the multifaceted and complex nature of issues (Chalmers, n.d). The possible way to think about the relationships between consciousness and the physical world is by considering the understanding of the traditional relationship between nature and consciousness.
The Western anthropocentric worldview influences human consciousness, giving it the capacity to respond to certain stimuli, control behavior, or monitor internal state phenomena critical in defining the physical system. Human consciousness is explained by experience people have. This is explained by having a conscious sense that defines mental status, which includes perceptual experience, mental imagery, bodily sensation, and contemporary thoughts. These perceptions are vital in defining, directing, and determining human understanding of anthropocentric worldview phenomena. Experience correlates with physical processes that result in the operations of physical systems like the brain, which results in cognitive and behavioral functioning in people. The relationship between physical processes and consciousness is explained by natural principles that explain the mystery and way of thinking concerning the link between the philosophical concept that relates physical process and consciousness. Natural principles are guided by morals, beliefs, and values that govern and help people appeal to consciousness (Chalmers, n.d). This includes both materialistic and non-materialistic, whereby materialism involves physical processes defining a philosophical concept defining the relationship between consciousness and experience.
The link between experience and consciousness is explained in the idea of dualism, which states that physical states cause phenomenal states and vice versa. This is done by the use of psychophysical laws that guide microphysical states. Descartes’ substance dualism explores human thinking about the natural relationship between consciousness and experience (Chalmers, n.d). The theory suggests that interaction between mental and physical substances is compatible with dualism property that plays a critical role in affecting the physical properties.
The ideology of consciousness is a comprehensive emergent property that guarantees organisms’ interaction with the environment and cannot be constrained to the brain. The concept of consciousness is a process of embodied action in the world. The evaluation consciousness is related to biological and ecological processes that underlie living organisms. Living organisms are active environmental members, enabling engagement that shapes their habitats and surroundings. Human beings have developed linguistic, and technological programs that allow them to manipulate and navigate their surroundings uniquely. The dominance of the Western worldview that integrates profound dualism between matter and mind has affected the dynamics and interconnection of humans with the nature of living systems. The Descartes dualism philosophy argues that the body and mind are distinct structures interacting (Thompson, 2013). This concept has been dominant in the Western worldview for a long time, influencing life from consciousness to ethics and politics.
The concept of dualism has made people view the world’s phenomena in an anthropocentric and constrained manner, whereby human beings are superior and separate from the natural world. This escalated social, environmental, and ethical issues from destroying and exploiting the natural world. To curb the constrained worldview, there is a need to adopt embodied and ecological aspects that view living systems as interconnected, emergent, and dynamic (Thompson, 2013). This includes developing bodily perception, experience, and connection that shape people’s understanding of the world.
The concept of consciousness is a fundamental and embodied phenomenon that creates interactions between organisms and the environment. This involves integrating the brain, a critical organ in shaping the perception and cognitive processes underlining the concept of consciousness. The concept of consciousness is critical in outsourcing the importance of the mind-body relationship, which has been critical in defining philosophical and cognitive concepts. The relationship between body and mind guarantees complex and dynamic interactions. The mind-body interactions require people to understand their self. The self is a dynamic and emergent entity that guarantees interactions between the body and the surroundings. The concept of self is not located within the perception of individualism but within the entire system of interaction with environmental interaction. The self-concept contributes to philosophical and practical issues such as ethics, spirituality, and politics. People develop ethical and sustainable living ways by recognizing the interconnection and dynamics of natural living (Thompson, 2013). This enables people to recognize their responsibility of caring for and protecting the environment by reducing environmental degradation and promoting societal equality.
The consciousness concept interconnects humans to natural living systems, promoting compelling everyday life implications. This is articulated in the Thompson arguments that suggest practices are meditations that help people develop a deeper appreciation for the interconnectedness of living organisms. This has helped people to develop sustainable and ethical relationships with the natural world. Practices such as tai chi and yoga help people develop a holistic and embodied understanding of self that promotes well-being and resilience in life (Thompson, 2013). The dynamic interaction between the body, brain, and environment promotes the concept of consciousness in a manner that promotes philosophical concern.
The Western view of consciousness is related to disembodied and individualism. This concept focuses on self-entity, described as separate from the external world. The concept of consciousness is related to the ideology of Cartesian dualism of body and mind that groups the mind as a non-physical entity distinct from the physical body. The view of individualism neglects the concept of the interconnectedness of nature and self. The holistic concept of consciousness suggests that the self cannot be disconnected from the world around people. A holistic view concerning consciousness is a dynamic process that facilitates people’s interactions with the natural world. The holistic concept of consciousness recognizes the significance of embodied cognition, which is a vital part of the cognition process that links perception and actions. The traditional concept of Cartesian views the mind to be separated from the body, which is a critical body shaping human experience in the global world (Thompson, 2013). The concept of consciousness has significant implications on how people understand themselves in the natural world, such as cognitive science.
Research has shown that the brain and body are active receivers of information from the entire world that construct reality experiences through perspective, cognition, and action. The constructions are unlimited to individual perceptions that shape cultural and social factors. For instance, research on neurons indicates that brain organs are interrelated to operate in that they respond to actions and emotions, which suggests that social cognition and empathy are constrained to neural functioning. Embodied cognition indicates that physical interactions with the natural world have been critical in shaping people’s perceptions and understanding of the world. The Western worldview promotes a dualistic separation between living organisms and the natural world. This concept exploits and destroys the natural world and promotes the oppression of other living organisms (Thompson, 2013). The holistic concept of self and nature challenges the anthropocentric worldview but promotes the social and ecological understanding of the world.
The holistic view of consciousness shows a correlation between mental and physical health, whereby the body and brain are dynamic systems. The relationship between physical health indicates that chronic stress and trauma physically impact the body system, leading to chronic inflammation. Interactions between the environment and living organisms constitute the philosophical objection about consciousness. The zombie experiment exemplifies the objection, which shows that human beings exist through physical identification and lack of experience. Bodily experience is essential for numerous perceptions and abilities, vital in defining bodily behavior (Thompson, 2013). Visual perception is functionally linked and accompanied by sensing body movement.
The body-body relationship is explained through the correlation between the physical and subjective bodies, showing lived experience. The body-to-body relationship requires rethinking of self and natural relationships. The traditional Western anthropocentric worldview promotes separation between self and nature. This perspective views the self as consciousness, disembodied, and rationale that promotes manipulation of the external world. The body-to-body problem suggests that human beings are described as a subject that experiences the external world. The relationship between body-to-body problems is physical body morphology and living dynamics. The physical body is comprised of physical organs, and the dynamics of life consist of lived life flow that includes sensations and intentional movements. The explanatory gap between the physical body and lived body experience is not legible because the body parts share everyday life. The philosophical work of the body is integrated phenomenology that closes the gap (Thompson, 2013). The body develops a relationship between the natural world and the self that helps understand the world’s mystery.
The core role of consciousness includes the finer-grained capacities for control, self-monitoring, and creating environmental relations. The perception of materialism reflects the more comprehensive Western anthropocentric worldview, which focuses on human beings as a universal center and emphasizes the significance of scientific inquiry. The argument from type A materialism states that consciousness results from brain functioning. Another argument suggests that consciousness helps the brain monitor and control organisms’ behavior (Chalmers, 2003). Consciousness can be explained in the form of behavior and functionality that helps to bridge the gap between the physical and truth behind a phenomenon, which cannot be crossed by scientific innovation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Western anthropocentric worldview promotes a philosophical concept of consciousness, a fundamental and embodied phenomenon that creates interactions between living organisms and the environment. The role of consciousness is significant in building the mind-body relationship. This is attributed to the self, a dynamic and emergent entity that promotes interactions between the body and its surroundings. The self-concept is the entire system that promotes interaction with the environment. This promotes philosophical concepts and practices like politics, spirituality, and ethics that promote sustainable living. This enables people to recognize the role of caring for and protecting the environment to promote equality and human well-being. The body-to-body relationship builds interactions between physical and subjective organs that are key in constructing reality experiences through cognition and actions. This interaction helps build a cultural and social relationship with nature. The embodied actions and cognition show that physical interactions with the natural world have been critical in people’s perceptions and understanding of the world. This has resulted in human exploitation of the natural world and oppression of the natural world.
References
Chalmers, D. J. (2003). Consciousness and its place in nature. Blackwell guide to the philosophy of mind, 102-142.
Thompson, E. Knowing: Is the self an Illusion?
Thompson, E. (2011). Precis of mind in life. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 18(5-6), pp. 10–22. Web.