Award-Winning Book





Are rocks conscious? Do animals or plants have souls? Have you ever wondered whether worms or insects might feel pain or pleasure? Can trees feel anything at all?

Ever wondered where in the great unfolding of evolution consciousness first appeared?

If questions like these intrigue you, you are in good company because they touch on the deepest mystery in modern philosophy, science, and spirituality: How are minds and bodies related? How does consciousness fit into the physical world?

These are not just idle speculations of philosophers. How we answer such questions can dramatically affect the way we live our lives, how we treat the world of Nature, and even how we relate to our own bodies.

In Radical Nature, philosopher and author Christian de Quincey explores how mind and matter are related, and he proposes a radical and surprising answer: Consciousness goes all the way down! Not only do animals have minds or souls, but so do plants, even single cells like bacteria . . . all the way down the "great chain of being" as far as molecules, atoms, and beyond.

Based on both ancient and modern knowledge, Professor de Quincey shows us how Nature teems with consciousness through and through. "Matter itself tingles with the spark of spirit," he says, "and therefore Nature, in all its forms and glory, is sacred to its deepest roots."

Radical Nature takes you on a mind-stretching journey into the world of philosophy in search of an answer to the deepest mystery of all time: How does consciousness light up the world around us? Professor de Quincey tells a remarkable story of philosophy and science in search of a soul.

Celebrate the Unity of Body and Spirit

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Christian de Quincey
The Visionary Edge
2008 Avignon Place, Half Moon Bay, CA, 94019

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Praise for Radical Nature

This book exposes the biggest con job in the history of human thought-that matter and nature are dead, mindless, unfeeling, and disconnected from ourselves. Christian de Quincey brilliantly shows that this point of view is not only wrong, but it is dangerous and destructive for ourselves and our world. He shows that consciousness is primordial and that it permeates all of existence, a view that is consistent with much emerging scientific evidence. Radical Nature gives us an image that is as hopeful and fulfilling as the old view was empty and depressing. Never have we needed such a view as now.

Larry Dossey, MD
Author of Healing Beyond the Body and Reinventing Medicine

This book has been twenty years in the making. And now that it's here, we should be thankful. Christian de Quincey's Radical Nature is one of the most important books on consciousness and cosmology to appear in decades. Anyone interested in questions about soul and nature, about the relationship between consciousness and the world of matter, about meaning in the universe, needs to read it. The author presents a compelling "new cosmology story" so fitting for our times. I anticipate an eager market for this, ranging from cosmologists, philosophers, spiritual seekers, and theologians, to enlightened postmodern "New Agers." The ideas will engage and challenge professionals for years to come; the clear, reader-friendly style will inspire any intelligent person who cares about the future of our world. This book will be required reading for my students in philosophy, cosmology, and consciousness.

Brian Swimme, PhD
Cosmologist and author of The Universe Story

Aboriginal peoples of the world (wherever they're still found intact) know that consciousness goes "all the way down." They perceive this as directly and as intuitively as we perceive the humor in a joke. For this reason, it's not really something we can "discover," any more than we "discovered" America. Nonetheless, for us latecomers (for whom the concept is a stranger), Christian de Quincey has provided a delightfully accessible
foundation for its rediscovery.

Daniel Quinn
Author of Ishmael and The Story of B

Radical Nature is that long-awaited book: a serious, philosophical-scientific treatise that addresses the greatest

philosophical issue of all times, and throws light on it. The concept of matter as inert and "dead" was indeed an exception in the long history of intellectual thought, but it came to be equated with self-evident truth in the modern mind. De Quincey shows that this is an aberration-that the universe is far more complex, vital, and "interesting" than standard materialistic science envisages. It is time to return to the concept that there is consciousness in nature, as de Quincey says, "all the way down." The rediscovery of this perennial insight lends both fresh meaning to our individual existence, and a fresh impetus to changing our attitude to nature from exploitation to participation.

Ervin Laszlo, PhD
Systems philosopher and author of The Whispering Pond

Christian de Quincey is that rare thing: someone equally at home in analytical philosophy and in the spirit of the New Age. No one knows better how to criticize the materialist position from the inside. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Radical Nature. I won't say I always agree with it. But, if anything can shake the current scientific complacency about the mindlessness of matter, this will.

Nicholas Humphrey, PhD
Author of A History of the Mind and Leaps of Faith

Radical Nature is a unique book that gets right down to the essence of the challenges facing any science of consciousness. Christian de Quincey has made a very important contribution to the current debate on consciousness, placing it in a wider cosmological context and covering the breadth of philosophical perspectives on the mind-body issue. Radical Nature is essential reading for anyone interested in consciousness
studies.

Peter Russell
Scholar and author of The Global Brain, and Waking Up in Time

This is a brilliant and much needed book. De Quincey is aware of the deleterious effects of the dualisms that our modern scientific world is heir to, but he does not just wish them away. Instead he rigorously investigates the philosophical history underlying these dualisms, identifies some of the wrong turns and suggests imaginative solutions. As a result, he has produced a deep work that is both intellectually satisfying and spiritually reunitive.

Joseph Prabhu, PhD
Professor of Philosophy, California State University Occasional Visiting Professor of Religious Studies, U.C. Berkeley

Christian de Quincey is a thoughtful and well-informed writer, whose articles in the Noetic Sciences Review and elsewhere represent some of the best writing in this field. His book Radical Nature provides a comprehensive overview to modern debates about the nature of consciousness. It will appeal to thoughtful readers. His provocative proposal of a new model of radical naturalism will challenge both materialists and dualists, and play an important part in the current debate. His writing is clear and well balanced, and shows a well-developed power of synthesis.

Rupert Sheldrake, PhD
Biologist and author of A New Science of Life and Seven Experiments that Could Change the World

Christian de Quincey's Radical Nature is a very welcome addition to the growing body of scientific and philosophical literature that proclaims consciousness at the ground of all being. Readers will especially benefit from the insights into the subtleties of consciousness that de Quincey contributes to the field.

Amit Goswami, PhD
Physicist and author of The Self-Aware Universe and The Visionary Window

Radical Natureis a powerful corrective to the prevalent dualisms encoded in our culture and consciousness. Christian de Quincey articulates another way of knowing and appreciating the world that rearranges our universe in quite remarkable ways. These well-researched and thought-provoking explorations are a philosophical road map for bridging the gap between spirit and matter.

Suzi Gablik
Art critic and author of The Reenchantment of Art

"Once More, With Feeling" a review by Alan Combs


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