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Jack Cummins

['Member']Joined: September 09, 2020 at 10:04Last active: February 24, 2026 at 22:34147 discussions5597 comments
Location: London

Bio

Interested in philosophy of psychoanalysis and psychiatry, social ethics, postmodernism, creative arts and literature, existentialism, and philosophy of religion.

Favourite Philosopher

Jung, Nietzsche, Ken Wilber, Fritjof Capra

Discussions (147)

Who am 'I'?

November 30, 2021 at 18:16 93 comments General Philosophy

Music and Mind

November 28, 2021 at 13:13 74 comments Philosophy of Art

Human nature?

November 12, 2020 at 13:26 117 comments General Philosophy

Comments

In: What is the Difference Between Dream and Waking Experience in the Perception of 'Reality'?  — view comment
The issue may be how dream experiences can be reconciled with the waking ones. It is a form of perception and understanding, so different from sensory...
February 24, 2026 at 21:13
In: What is the Difference Between Dream and Waking Experience in the Perception of 'Reality'?  — view comment
Yes, I was interested in the idea of dream as perception and how different it is to absence of material objects and happenings. For this reason, dream...
February 24, 2026 at 16:40
In: TPF is moving: please register on the new forum  — view comment
I am not sure; because at this point, it is unclear what the new site will entail. I wish to engage in so many aspects of philosophy discussion and do...
February 20, 2026 at 21:39
In: What is the Difference Between Dream and Waking Experience in the Perception of 'Reality'?  — view comment
There is the question of what is a hallucination. It may seem obvious to some but not necessarily. In particular, I do have some retinal problems whic...
February 20, 2026 at 19:45
In: TPF is moving: please register on the new forum  — view comment
I am hoping that it is not too complicated to register on the new site. I tried once and was unsuccessful. So much comes down to digital technologies ...
February 20, 2026 at 19:35
In: Say your goodbyes to the old forum!  — view comment
I am a little bit disappointed but also look towards positive possibilities of a new forum. In the last few months, where there are a lack of new memb...
February 20, 2026 at 19:22
In: What is the Difference Between Dream and Waking Experience in the Perception of 'Reality'?  — view comment
I wonder about the nature of personal identity in dreams. The 'me' in dreams may be different from waking aspects of meaning. It may be about a more w...
February 20, 2026 at 18:04
In: What is the Value and Significance of the Human Ego? Is it the Source of the Downfall of Humanity?  — view comment
I do see the issue of outdated ideas as being problematic if applied too rigidly and thus applies to the foundation of psychodynamic therapies. I was ...
February 09, 2026 at 08:05
In: What is the Value and Significance of the Human Ego? Is it the Source of the Downfall of Humanity?  — view comment
You ask about my attraction to ideas of ego and the will to power. I have been interested in such ideas throughout my attempt to understand myself and...
February 08, 2026 at 13:57
In: What is the Value and Significance of the Human Ego? Is it the Source of the Downfall of Humanity?  — view comment
Yes, I think that Freud's ideas, especially the model of id, ego and superego, are a very useful description of how humans behave. Unfortunately, peop...
February 08, 2026 at 13:43
In: What is the Value and Significance of the Human Ego? Is it the Source of the Downfall of Humanity?  — view comment
The concept of ego may have gone out of fashion, especially as the term consciousness has become used to cover so much ambiguity in meaning. Similarly...
February 06, 2026 at 16:10
In: What is the Value and Significance of the Human Ego? Is it the Source of the Downfall of Humanity?  — view comment
You are familiar with the approaches of those who seek to go beyond 'ego' and it does seem that the ideas in the Christian gospels, as well as many ot...
February 05, 2026 at 18:21
In: What is the Value and Significance of the Human Ego? Is it the Source of the Downfall of Humanity?  — view comment
There are such varying models of the 'self'. This applies in both psychology and philosophy. I am more familiar with the psychodynamic thinking of Fre...
February 04, 2026 at 09:35
In: What is the Value and Significance of the Human Ego? Is it the Source of the Downfall of Humanity?  — view comment
I had never thought of 'ego' as being a poetic model, but it is, of course bound up with language, especially in the formulation of autobiographical n...
February 04, 2026 at 08:36
In: What is the Value and Significance of the Human Ego? Is it the Source of the Downfall of Humanity?  — view comment
I am not sure that it is how possible to relinquish identification and that is where I do wonder about an error on his part. If anything, his ideas ma...
February 04, 2026 at 08:22
In: Sensory Experience, Rational Knowledge and Contemplation: Are There Category Errors of Knowledge?  — view comment
I think that you are right to say that Wilber draws upon ancient Greek ideas of 'reason'. It seems that he is more influenced by such ideas than by th...
January 06, 2026 at 19:13
In: Sensory Experience, Rational Knowledge and Contemplation: Are There Category Errors of Knowledge?  — view comment
I have dipped into phenomenology and probably need to have read more to know if Wilber is comparable with Husserl.or Heidegger. I suspect that he may ...
January 06, 2026 at 18:58
In: Sensory Experience, Rational Knowledge and Contemplation: Are There Category Errors of Knowledge?  — view comment
I think that Wilbef does recognise the difference between science and the scientist because he emphasise the witness state of the scientist as a pheno...
December 26, 2025 at 20:40
In: Sensory Experience, Rational Knowledge and Contemplation: Are There Category Errors of Knowledge?  — view comment
I don't think that Wilber was trying to depict a new paradigm and recognised that some philosophy in the past had a more synthetic approach. He may ha...
December 26, 2025 at 18:56
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
[[reply="180 Proof;1031851" I am.aware that my thread and arguments are a bit flaky, but I am inspired by reading Wilber. I may start it as a new thre...
December 24, 2025 at 22:45
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
I am reading Ken Wilber's 'Eye to Eye: The Quest for the New Paradigm and found the following quote very useful in relation to the question raised in ...
December 21, 2025 at 03:27
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
I am happy to swap the term 'spiritual' for numinous, especially as I have read Rudof Otto on numinousity. I have always been interested in Abraham.Ma...
December 14, 2025 at 19:51
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
I am not making up.arguments for their own sake but wondering about the artificial consciousness in the evolution of consciousness for some time. In a...
December 14, 2025 at 18:32
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
I am not saying that the subtle body is a substance of substance dualism, but arguing that it may point to a more complex picture than currently envis...
December 14, 2025 at 17:33
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
It is not that I am seeking to argue against science or for some hidden transcendent force, but wondering about human partial understanding. One aspec...
December 14, 2025 at 14:50
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
Eliminative materialism did lead the issue of independence of consciousness into the periphery, often in the form of esoteric thinking, such as theoso...
December 13, 2025 at 19:37
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
Part of my own query about the dependence of consciousness on the physical cams from my own 'acid' experience and other states of lucid dreaming on th...
December 13, 2025 at 19:28
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
I know that both @"I like Sushi" and @"180 Proof" speak of 'quantum woo woo', and it is such a questionable area. In a way, quantum physics allows for...
December 13, 2025 at 18:01
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
Jung definitely sees the integration of opposites as being important, including the masculine and feminine, as well as good and evil as being essentia...
December 10, 2025 at 15:15
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
Of course, spirituality has so many different meanings and understandings. I like your description of the possibilities, and I also found @"Outlander"...
December 10, 2025 at 15:03
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
I have only read the thread a little in the last few days because I have become unwell. I think that I may have another chest infection. However, you ...
December 07, 2025 at 12:52
In: The Shoutbox  — view comment
What I am wondering is there no short story activity for Christmas/New Year? It may be that this has been discussed and I have missed it. I don't know...
December 05, 2025 at 13:00
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
Yes, there is the danger of cultural bias as a form of chauvinism. Negatively is a problem too because it is hard to keep positive in certain circumst...
December 04, 2025 at 19:38
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
I am not suggesting that one should seek suffering but it comes to so many. Throughout the world there is so much suffering and it may lead to some ra...
December 04, 2025 at 19:31
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
One aspect which I wonder about is whether suffering may be a pathway to greater consciousness or awareness. Of course, suffering can lead people to b...
December 03, 2025 at 11:23
In: Disability  — view comment
One sociological book which may be relevant is Erving Goffman's, 'Stigma' which looks at how physical characteristics impact on social identity. What ...
December 03, 2025 at 11:13
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
The idea of the 'truth within' may be problematic if followed through for its own sake. The idea of being 'co-creators with the universe' may enable a...
December 02, 2025 at 23:23
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
Just as you are asking about my purpose of writing, I am wondering about yours too. It is so easy to get caught up in tangents of thinking, both about...
December 02, 2025 at 18:36
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
It does seem likely that religious believers may be devoid of spirituality, just as similar to atheists. This was the area of criticism of the Pharise...
December 02, 2025 at 18:30
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
I am not sure that the issues which I raise can be pinned down to one thread. It involves so much thinking about 'reality' and the questions arising i...
December 02, 2025 at 18:12
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
Yes, I agree that there can be a lack of understanding of 'spirituality' amongst both religious people and atheists. The ancient thinkers, including P...
December 02, 2025 at 17:20
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
The division between the secular and 'spirituality' is complex. Numinousity may involves the arts rather than what is perceived as 'religious experien...
December 02, 2025 at 17:11
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
I have thought about your question of what I am aiming for in the thread and think that it is more about the future of consciousness. Human consciousn...
December 02, 2025 at 15:30
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
I think that Schopenhauer may have influenced Jung!
December 01, 2025 at 22:18
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
I am influenced by Jung's understanding of metaphysics. It combines a Kantian understanding of the limits of epistemology with ideas from Eastern thin...
December 01, 2025 at 19:30
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
I have often wondered about what ghosts represent? My own reading has included ideas in theosophy, where I came across the view that ghosts are relate...
December 01, 2025 at 17:19
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
The basis for my idea of spirituality being entwined with the evolution of consciousness is related to anthropology and ancient history. In particular...
December 01, 2025 at 14:25
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
Spirituality and the issue of fantasy is important. Even within the genre of fantasy fiction there are aspects of 'truth' which may be the depths of h...
November 28, 2025 at 23:17
In: What is the Significance of 'Spirituality' in Understanding the Evolution of Human Consciousness?  — view comment
The question may be about what is 'spirit'? Is it disembodied? That is where it gets complicated and bound up with the philosophy of idealism, and the...
November 28, 2025 at 23:06
In: The term "metaphysics" still confuses me  — view comment
Physics is a basis for understanding the laws of the physical world. The nature and purpose of 'existence' is more complex. There may be meaning, or n...
November 28, 2025 at 22:56
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