Prof Emmy van Deurzen – Consciousness as the Fulcrum of Human Existence: from existential ideas to panpsychism.
Existential thinkers have often looked at the human condition as rooted in freedom. Sartre argued that radical freedom stems from the fact that human consciousness is not a thing in itself but a being for itself. If consciousness is the core of our freedom and the fulcrum of human existence how do we conceive of the end of life, when consciousness ceases? For Heidegger anticipating death was crucial to authentic ways of being, but he also spoke of releasement and letting be but did not propose a complete theory of metaphysics. How can we make sense of an existential worldview without considering what lies beyond death or without addressing the question of the meaning of life? Camus’ concept of absurdity is not a very satisfactory solution in the long term for most people. There is a possible confluence between existential thought and panpsychism. This was in evidence in Plato’s idealism, in Spinoza’s pantheism, in Leibniz and Schopenhauer’s and to some extent in Nietzsche’s work and also in William James’ psychology. It has recently returned in the rapidly growing movement of panpsychism, based on the work of people like Thomas Nagel and Alfred North Whitehead, with more contemporary contributions by Galen Strawson, David Chalmers, Godehard Brüntrup and Philip Goff. These authors argue that panpsychism can offer a solution to the hard problem of explaining why humans and other organisms have qualia, phenomenal consciousness and subjective experiences. These ideas can take existential thinking towards a metaphysical dimension and this is invaluable and vital when working with people who are questioning the meaning of life or who are struggling with complex paradoxes and contradictions in human existence.
Emmy will explain these ideas in simple terms and will show how she applies them to her clinical work and in her recent book Beginning to Live: The Art of Existential Freedom (Allen Lane, 2026).
EMMY VAN DEURZEN is an existential therapist, counselling psychologist, and philosopher, who has worked in the field since 1973 and who has written twenty books on existential psychology and psychotherapy. Her work has been translated into over 30 languages. She founded the Society for Existential Analysis and its journal in 1988, the Regent’s School of Psychotherapy in 1990, and the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling (NSPC) in 1996. She was the driving force behind the First World Congress for Existential Therapy, which was held in London in 2015. This also led to the founding of the Federation for Existential Therapists in Europe (FETE). She is a visiting professor with Middlesex University and current President of the worldwide Existential Movement. Emmy is an international speaker who has given presentations and workshops on five continents.
Speaker
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Emmy van DeurzenExistential therapist, psychologist and philosopher
