Bernardo Kastrup’s Cosmic-Idealist Worldview as Neurotic Ego-Defense Mechanism

Bernardo Kastrup’s Manichean war against “materialists”.

I haven’t read every single word that Bernardo Kastrup has ever written. So it must be noted here that when philosophers and scientists criticise Kastrup’s Cosmic Idealism, he often says that they “don’t understand” it. Thus, Kastrup basically conflates criticising his Cosmic Idealism with not understanding it. This is a very popular technique which is also used by religious and political fundamentalists.

Of course it can be conceded that Kastrup obviously knows more about his own Cosmic Idealism — and probably other idealisms — than most (or even all) of his critics; just as a religious or political fundamentalist will often know more about his chosen ideology or religion than most of his critics.

This situation is made even worse because Kastrup has a penchant for offering psychological, psychanalytic and Jungian depth psychological hitjobs on all his critics…

And, yes, this is precisely — at least in part — what I’m doing to him in this essay.

In any case, Kastrup often looks for the psychological motivations which, for example, supposedly drive people’s “physicalism” or “materialism”. Moreover, Kastrup does exactly the same thing when it comes to those people who criticise his own Cosmic Idealism. Indeed, there’s an entire paper by Kastrup in this vein - it’s called ‘The Physicalist Worldview as Neurotic Ego-Defense Mechanism’.

So perhaps Kastrup himself should be the victim of such psychological analyses. Perhaps it is Kastrup who displays “neurotic ego-defence mechanisms” when people express what he takes to be “materialist” positions. In less pretentious terms, it’s certainly the case that Kastrup often attacks other people — and not only his critics. (Kastrup deems nearly all his critics — as well as people with differing views, such as journalists — to be materialists or physicalists.) And he’s also very defensive about his own philosophical and spiritual positions.

Take Kastrup’s strong words on just about every person and position he doesn’t fully endorse. For example, his highly personalised and smug criticisms of Philip Goff (see here and here), Sabine Hossenfelder (see here and here), Sam Harris (see here and here), Massimo Pigliucci (see here and here), all “materialists” (see here and here), “our culture” (see here and here), etc. etc. etc.

To change tack a little.

Kastrup may not claim to know that his Cosmic Idealism is true, right or correct. Perhaps he simply classes it as a theory. If that’s the case, then he rarely — if ever — states that. And if Cosmic Idealism is just a philosophical theory, then it’s just a theory among many others. Yet, here again, you don’t get the impression from Kastrup that Cosmic Idealism is simply one philosophical theory among many others. To him, it is clearly the Supreme Philosophical Theory. That is, there is very little modesty in Kastrup’s words about his own theories and ideas. And neither does Kastrup tolerate — or show decency toward — those philosophers and scientists who criticise them.

This is Kastrup being embarrassingly jealous and vindictive. Is this an example of Kastrup’s “ego-dissolution”?

So, for someone who knows about psychanalysis and psychotherapy (see here, here, and here), Kastrup seems to lack self-awareness. Particularly, he is the most egotistical and rude cotemporary philosopher I’ve come across.

Finally, and paradoxically (or just perversely), perhaps Kastrup’s self-proclaimed attempts to escape (partly/largely through psychedelic substances — see here) from what he himself calls the “egoic loop” have actually helped create his huge ego.

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Kastrup appears to be an admin of his own Facebook “fan club” — see image directly above. (See his fan club @ Facebook here.)

Note: See ‘The Science of Spiritual Narcissism’, at Scientific American. See also a psychologist on “spiritual narcissism” here. Finally, this piece is on the direct link between being supposedly “egoless” and having a huge… well, ego — something that the writer admits to, and thinks is a good thing.

(*) See my essays ‘Bernardo Kastrup’s Spiritual Take on Psychedelic Experiences and Cosmic Consciousness’, ‘The Idealist Philosopher Bernardo Kastrup vs. Materialism’, ‘Bernardo Kastrup (the Well-Known Cosmic Idealist) and His Afterlife’ and Reality is a Metaphor: Bernardo Kastrup on the Vibrations of Cosmic Consciousness’.

A review of a book by Kastrup.