AtomicQuote

Thomas Nagel Quote

The great cognitive shift is an expansion of consciousness from the perspectival form contained in the lives of particular creatures to an objective, world-encompassing form that exists both individually and intersubjectively. It was originally a biological evolutionary process, and in our species it has become a collective cultural process as well. Each of our lives is a part of the lengthy process of the universe gradually waking up and becoming aware of itself.

Thomas Nagel

The great cognitive shift is an expansion of consciousness from the perspectival form contained in the lives of particular creatures to an objective, world-encompassing form that exists both individually and intersubjectively. It was originally a biological evolutionary process, and in our species it has become a collective cultural process as well. Each of our lives is a part of the lengthy process of the universe gradually waking up and becoming aware of itself.

Tags: cosmos, evolution, mind, teleology, universe

Related Quotes

Stephen Hawking said that his quest is simply "trying to understand the mind of God".

Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking said that his quest is simply "trying to understand the mind of God".

Tags: beliefs, big bang, biology, cosmos, creationism, darwin, evolution, faith, god, hawkings

It was in the horizon of existence, that the Big Bang must have created our souls, we loved each other like the plane of time doesn't hold a fleck of control over us.

Jasleen Kaur Gumber

It was in the horizon of existence, that the Big Bang must have created our souls, we loved each other like the plane of time doesn't hold a fleck of control over us.

Tags: abstract, big bang, cosmos, existence, faith, forever, hope, life, love, love story

Your body may not be, but the quintessence your being and entity is made-up of, is forever.

Fakeer Ishavardas

Your body may not be, but the quintessence your being and entity is made-up of, is forever.

Tags: cosmos, creation of the universe, divine self, god realization, metaphysical, metaphysical truth reality, philosophy, self realization, soul, spiritual wisdom

We are the cosmos made conscious and life is the means by which the universe understands itself.

Brian Cox

We are the cosmos made conscious and life is the means by which the universe understands itself.

Tags: consciousness, cosmos, inspirational, life, universe

We have a predator that came from the depths of the cosmos and took over the rule of our lives. Human beings are its prisoners. The Predator is our lord and master. It has rendered us docile, helpless...

Carlos Castaneda

We have a predator that came from the depths of the cosmos and took over the rule of our lives. Human beings are its prisoners. The Predator is our lord and master. It has rendered us docile, helpless...

Tags: aliens, ancient history, anunnaki, beliefs, cause and effect, chaos, cognitive dissonance, cosmos, dreams, food

You must know, the day your star exploded into my universe, you altered it all. You exposed my light and my dark, settled into my existence and there you will be and glow in the matter of my heart, lo...

Jennifer DeLucy

You must know, the day your star exploded into my universe, you altered it all. You exposed my light and my dark, settled into my existence and there you will be and glow in the matter of my heart, lo...

Tags: alter, change, changed my world, cosmos, love, making a difference, people, stars, the power of love, universe

Our biological rhythms are the symphony of the cosmos, music embedded deep within us to which we dance, even when we can't name the tune.

Deepak Chopra

Our biological rhythms are the symphony of the cosmos, music embedded deep within us to which we dance, even when we can't name the tune.

Tags: art, cosmos, dance, deepak chopra, muisc, music, rhythm, rythms, tune, universe

Highly complex numbers like the Comma of Pythagoras, Pi and Phi (sometimes called the Golden Proportion), are known as irrational numbers. They lie deep in the structure of the physical universe, and...

Jonathan Black

Highly complex numbers like the Comma of Pythagoras, Pi and Phi (sometimes called the Golden Proportion), are known as irrational numbers. They lie deep in the structure of the physical universe, and...

Tags: ancient egyptians, constants of nature, cosmos, fibonacci, fine structure constant, golden proportion, golden ratio, history of mathematics, history of science, numbers

Look at the stars. It won't fix the economy. It won't stop wars. It won't give you flat abs, or even help you figure out your relationship. But it's important. It helps you to remember that you and yo...

GoodQuotes

Look at the stars. It won't fix the economy. It won't stop wars. It won't give you flat abs, or even help you figure out your relationship. But it's important. It helps you to remember that you and yo...

Tags: constellation, cosmos, galaxy, infinite, lost, nightsky, problems, sky, small, star

The more of us that feel the universe, the better off we will be in this world.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

The more of us that feel the universe, the better off we will be in this world.

Tags: astronomy, cosmos, painting, photography, science, space, starry night, universe, vincent van gogh
About Thomas Nagel

Thomas Nagel (; born July 4, 1937) is an American philosopher. He is the University Professor of Philosophy and Law Emeritus at New York University, where he taught from 1980 until his retirement in 2016. His main areas of philosophical interest are political philosophy, ethics and philosophy of mind.
Nagel is known for his critique of material reductionist accounts of the mind, particularly in his essay "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" (1974), and for his contributions to liberal moral and political theory in The Possibility of Altruism (1970) and subsequent writings. He continued the critique of reductionism in Mind and Cosmos (2012), in which he argues against the neo-Darwinian view of the emergence of consciousness.