Epigraph

And they ask you concerning the soul. Say, ‘The soul is by the command of my Lord; and of the knowledge thereof you have been given but a little.’ (Al Quran 17:85)

Soon We will show them Our Signs in all parts of the universe, and in their ownselves until it becomes manifest to them that it is the truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is Witness over all things? (Al Quran 41:53)

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David Bentley Hart (born February 1965) is an American writer, philosopher, religious studies scholar, critic, and theologian. Reviewers have commented on Hart’s baroque prose and provocative rhetoric in over one thousand essays, reviews, and papers as well as nineteen books (including translations). From a predominantly Anglican family background, Hart became Eastern Orthodox when he was twenty-one. His academic works focus on Christian metaphysics, philosophy of mind, Indian and East Asian religion, Asian languages, classics, and literature as well as a New Testament translation. Books with wider audiences include The Doors of the Sea, Atheist Delusions, That All Shall Be Saved, and Roland in Moonlight.

Henry Pierce Stapp (born March 23, 1928, in Cleveland, Ohio)^[1] is an American mathematical physicist, known for his work in quantum mechanics, particularly the development of axiomatic S-matrix theory, the proofs of strong nonlocality properties, and the place of free will in the “orthodox” quantum mechanics of John von Neumann.^[2]

Some of Stapp’s work concerns the implications of quantum mechanics (QM). He has argued for the relevance of QM to consciousness and free will.^[4]

Stapp favors the idea that quantum wave functions collapse only when they interact with consciousness as a consequence of “orthodox” quantum mechanics. He argues that quantum wave functions collapse when conscious minds select one among the alternative quantum possibilities. His hypothesis of how mind may interact with matter via quantum processes in the brain differs from that of Penrose and Hameroff. While they postulate quantum computing in the microtubules in brain neurons, Stapp postulates a more global collapse, a ‘mind like’ wave-function collapse that exploits certain aspects of the quantum Zeno effect within the synapses. Stapp’s view of the neural correlate of attention is explained in his book, Mindful Universe: Quantum Mechanics and the Participating Observer (2007). Stapp has claimed that consciousness is fundamental to the universe.^[5]

In this book he credits John von Neumann‘s Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (1955, 1932) with providing an “orthodox” quantum mechanics demonstrating mathematically the essential role of quantum physics in the mind. Stapp has taken interest in the work of Alfred North Whitehead. He has proposed what he calls a “revised Whiteheadianism”.^[6] He has also written a chapter “Whiteheadian Process and Quantum Theory” (pp. 92–102) in the book Physics and Whitehead: Quantum, Process, and Experience (2003).

His philosophy has been described as being influenced by both Heisenberg’s physical realism and Bohr’s idealism. A form of panpsychism Philosopher Gordon Globus noted that “Stapp unhesitatingly descends into panexperientialism“.^[7] Stapp has co-authored papers with Jeffrey M. Schwartz. Schwartz has connected the work of Stapp with the concept of “mental force” and spiritual practices of Buddhism.^[8]