Philip Goff, "Why? The Purpose of the Universe" (Oxford UP, 2023)
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What is the central claim of Why? The Purpose of the Universe and why does it matter?
Welcome to the New Books Network.
Hello, and welcome to New Books in Philosophy, a podcast channel with the New Books Network. I'm Carrie Figdor, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Iowa. I'm co-host of the channel, along with Robert Talese, Sarah Tyson, and Malcolm Keating. Together, we bring you conversations with philosophers about their new books in a wide range of areas of contemporary philosophical inquiry. Today's interview is with Philip Goff, professor of philosophy at Durham University. His book, Why the Purpose of the Universe, is just out from Oxford University Press. Does the universe have a purpose? And if it does, how is this connected to the meaningfulness that we seek in our own lives? In his new book, Goff argues for cosmic purposivism, the idea that the universe does have a purpose, although this is not because there is an all-powerful God who provides it with one.
Instead, he argues fundamental physics provides us with reason to think it is probable there is a cosmic purpose. And moreover, the best explanation of these reasons is to posit cosmo-psychism, the idea that there are fundamental forms of consciousness such that the universe itself is a conscious mind. Gough argues that these claims are not as extravagant as they may initially seem, and that his view provides a way for understanding human purposes that lies between secular humanism and religious or spiritual perspectives. Let's turn to the interview. Hello, Philip Gough. Welcome to New Books and Philosophy.
Hello, good to be here. Thanks for having me on.
I'm really looking forward to this discussion, which will probably be somewhat contentious because I was amused by the whole package that you present in Why, in the Purpose of the Universe book. Before we get into the details of the book, maybe you can give us a little sense of who you are as a philosopher, how you got into philosophy and how you came to write this book.
Yeah, well, I'm currently Professor of Philosophy at Durham University. I've been here about five years now. I guess I've just always been obsessed with philosophy, really, but as far as I can remember, I think I've always been sort of obsessed with how... the different stories we tell about reality fit together. An example of that, I mean, I was raised Catholic, and I remember at a very early age asking the priest where Adam and Eve were when the Big Bang happened. So I think that was an example of somebody being told this one story at church about Adam and Eve, and then this... I was always very interested in physics and black holes and stuff, and then hearing this other story about the origins of the universe and thinking...
How do they fit together? And then I suppose in terms of how that's turned out is thinking about, for example, how the story we tell about free will fits together with the story we tell about near deterministic physics or the story we tell about. Morality, right and wrong, good and bad, fit together with the valueless facts of natural science. Although one I probably focus most on in my career is how the facts about consciousness, feelings and experiences fit together with the neuroscientific story of what's happening in the brain. So in all of these is a challenge of... how all of these things hang together in one unified theory of reality. And that's what really keeps me awake at night.
Okay, well, so, right. So I mentioned, you know, the title of is why the purpose of the universe great cover, by the way. It
is lovely, isn't it?
Yeah, yeah.
They did a really great job.
So the I guess the first question that I that I came, you know, that that as I was reading on this idea of purpose of the universe was, you know, this, the idea that a lot of people, well, if not everybody want some sort of meaning in their life. And that this also raises the question of the connection of one's own sort of personal meaning with a larger purpose of maximally, of course, the universe itself, all of reality. And one of the questions that I had immediately, and you, you,
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the central claim of Why? The Purpose of the Universe and why does it matter?
0:01–8:18
2
How does Philip Goff’s personal philosophical journey shape his view of cosmic purposivism?
8:18–16:00
3
Why should we care about a cosmic purpose beyond our own individual goals?
16:00–24:35
4
What is cosmopsychism and how does it provide a non‑theistic explanation for cosmic purpose?
24:35–32:34
5
How does Goff move from subjectivist to objectivist accounts of value and meaning?
32:34–42:18
6
What does the fine‑tuning of physical constants tell us about a goal‑directed universe?
42:18–49:13
7
How can a belief in cosmic purpose influence personal meaning, spiritual practice, and politics?
49:13–58:11
8
What are the next research projects and open questions Goff is pursuing after the book?
58:11–1:05:24
Speakers
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