Conatus: THIRD EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

C O N A T U S

observation and rationalism.

Here’s a list of the ideas that we will explore in more detail below:

Embodiment.

Sensation.

That form emerges from formlessness.

That there has always been formlessness and always will be and that there is a constant flux between formlessness and form.

That there is an unfolding of increasing complexity by way of emergence. Life, consciousness and agency are all products of upwards emergence.

That the eco-system — our own local nature — has wisdom that it can impart to us. ‘Downwards causation’.

That thinking of the universe from the viewpoint of eternity makes sense. And so, there is meaning in the idea that the end is contained in the beginning — thus that ‘downwards causation’ has always been there, even though it appears to us, from within time’s arrow, that initially there is only upwards emergence.

That the whole process is somehow sacred.

That nature is and should be our main source of enchantment.

That the contemplation of these things — and

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