Show Notes
Today’s guest is Professor Brian Les Lancaster. Les has been instrumental in the growth of Transpersonal Psychology in the UK and internationally. He is one of the founding directors of the Alef Trust. He has previously served as Chair of the Transpersonal Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society, President of the International Transpersonal Association, and a Board member of the Association for Transpersonal Psychology. He is Emeritus Professor of Transpersonal Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), where with colleague Michael Daniels, he initiated postgraduate programmes in Consciousness and Transpersonal Psychology.
In today’s talk, Les and I discussed the fundamental divide in consciousness studies between those who think consciousness can be understood in terms in brain function and those who think it is somehow fundamental to the universe. Les spoke about why there is a need for consciousness studies today, and why he thinks that we are in an age of transition that might be labelled a New Renaissance.
Resources
Alef Trust:
Les’ key book on consciousness:
Lancaster, B.L. (2004). Approaches to Consciousness: The Marriage of Science and Mysticism. Palgrave.
The landscape of consciousness paper:
Kuhn, R.L. (2024). A landscape of consciousness: Toward a taxonomy of explanations and implications. Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, 190, 28–169.
Evidence for psi phenomena like telepathy and others:
https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/categories
Materialist writers
Dennett, D. C. (1991) Consciousness explained. Allen Lane.
Seth, A. (2021). Being you: A new science of consciousness. Faber & Faber.
‘Metaphysics is dead’ discussed in:
Gardner, H. (1985). The mind’s new science. Basic Books.
New Renaissance
Italian Renaissance:
https://www.history.com/topics/renaissance/italian-renaissance
Kabbalah and Renaissance discussed in chapter 5 of:
Dan, J. (2007). Kabbalah a very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
Overview effect:
New Horizons probe to Pluto:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/new-horizons/
Kim Stanley Robinson’s book that starts with a heatwave:
Robinson, K.S. (2020). The Ministry for the Future. Orbit.
A Consciousness Renaissance? | Brian Les Lancaster