I just started listening to the podcast “Patterson in Pursuit.” You can find it here.
In episode 2, he discusses the problem of consciousness with Dr. Westacott. He argues that human self-awareness is the one reason he does not hold to a merely physical explanation for existence. Patterson calls himself a reluctant Cartesian dualist. He holds to the reality of the physical world and he holds to the reality of self-consciousness but he is not sure how to connect the two.
In their discussion, the two men bring up several possibilities that might bridge consciousness and physicality. Patterson posits God as an answer. Our self-awareness suggests an awareness of something other. That “other” can help explain the very fact that we have self-awareness. The two men look back to Spinoza, who. among others, suggests a universal mind, which all selves participate in. Patterson is not satisfied with either option. In his mind, they are the philosophical version of the “Deus Ex Machina.”
I’m one of those people, who sees God as the answer. But I don’t want to end my contribution there. I think that it is particularly the doctrine of creation that helps cut through reluctant Cartesian dualism. God, who has his existence in himself, freely chose to create something other than himself. Our physicality is a gift. Consciousness is a gift. Our consciousness is a gift, which allows us to respond to the God who made us.
This helps us understand why we cannot have a comprehensive understanding of “I” without positing something other than ourselves. We are dependent beings. This reflects our lives as humans as well. We begin our lives as babies. Our parents name us. Our parents hand down traditions to us. They, along with our communities, form us before we ever begin to be self-aware. The created order around us already teaches us dependence.
This is a coherent explanation but where is the proof? The proof of creation is in the historical person of Jesus Christ. God has shown who he is in Christ and in the historical documents that teach us about Christ. It is the resurrection, in particular, which proves this. God put new life into that which has no life; he enacts a new creation. Christians look to that work of God in history as their starting point.
n.b. I’ve just started listening so I don’t know how Patterson’s beliefs develop in later episodes.