Bøger af George Lowell Tollefson

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the philosopher George Berkeley proposed the idea that "to be is to be perceived." This was a denial of the traditional and popular temporal-spatial separation of consciousness from its content. For under Berkeley's interpretation, everything perceived was to be understood as either in the mind of the individual or in the mind of God. It was God who provided material experience with its order and universal application, coordinating individual experiences into a single reality. This was accomplished, not through the senses, but within the perceiving mind of each person.Though Berkeley's ideas were accorded recognition as a magnificent tour de force by those who understood them in terms of their philosophical achievement, they were not appreciated by the general public and had little impact on them. Such has been the case for three hundred years. But recent developments in quantum science have once again raised questions concerning the boundary between mind and perception.The present work is not a defense of any scientific view. Rather, it is an independent examination of the relationship between consciousness and experience. It takes a close look at what is generally conceived as mind and, in doing so, observes the active role of consciousness in constructing the details of perception, imagination, and reason from impressions which make their appearance within an individual person's awareness. Thus, though their approach is unique to George Tollefson, the three volumes presented here revisit Berkeley's fundamental idea of mind as a sole source of experience. However, it is the author's view that there is but one universal consciousness, self-limiting as to the content supplied to each person's awareness. The limitation of that content is what creates an individual mind without violating the unity of consciousness. The System of the Mind explains why this is and explores the implications of this approach.

The Immaterial Structure of Human Experience is a philosophical work, a system. It is a quest into the workings of the human mind from the perspective of epistemology and philosophy of mind. Focusing on human experience from a subjective point of view, it does not attempt the kind of empirical approach which would be centered in the senses, as would be the case with one of the sciences.Instead, the book argues that although we experience our conscious awareness as enclosed within and conditioned by material circumstances, it can best be understood as an immediate and instantaneous expression of spirit.This immaterialist approach has two goals. First, to establish a broadened empiricism that includes and is centered upon the experience of consciousness, and second, to demonstrate the priority of spirit over matter. It is a new approach to the question, "How do we know what we know?"

Through the millennia, Christianity has focused on the cross and resurrection. But Jesus did have a teaching mission. What was he trying to convey? Did a unified vision inform his parables and sayings? This book examines the text to answer these questions.