Author Guide · Philosophy of Mind
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At fourteen Philip Goff declined to be confirmed in the Catholic Church. He went on to a PhD at the University of Reading under Galen Strawson and is now a professor of philosophy at Durham University. His position is panpsychism: the view that consciousness is a fundamental and widespread feature of the physical world, down to its smallest parts. He has argued it for philosophers, for general readers and against his critics, and has since asked what it means for the purpose of the universe. This guide covers his four key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 4 key books · 2017–2023 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Philip Goff has written three books and co-edited a fourth: Consciousness and Fundamental Reality (2017), Galileo’s Error (2019), Is Consciousness Everywhere? (2022, with Alex Moran) and Why? The Purpose of the Universe (2023). Start with Galileo’s Error, his case for panpsychism written for general readers. Read on for how the books connect, and what his critics say.
Where to Start with Philip Goff
If you want his case for panpsychism in plain language
→ Galileo’s Error (2019) — written for general readers.
If you want his thinking on meaning and cosmic purpose
→ Why? (2023) — fine-tuning, God and the alternatives.
If you want the full academic argument
→ Consciousness and Fundamental Reality (2017) — written for philosophers.
If you want to hear from his critics
→ Is Consciousness Everywhere? (2022) — responses to Galileo’s Error, and his reply.
4 Philip Goff Books, in Order
Consciousness and Fundamental Reality
Published by Oxford University Press, this is the version of his argument written for academic philosophers. It asks how consciousness fits into our overall theory of reality, argues against physicalism, and defends panpsychism as the better answer.
Galileo’s Error
The title refers to Galileo’s founding move for modern science: dividing the world into two radically different kinds of thing, leaving consciousness outside the reach of physical description. Goff rejects dualism, because the brain shows no unexplained activity a non-physical mind would cause, and materialism, because physical description leaves out subjective experience, and argues that consciousness is a basic feature of matter. The last chapter turns to the natural world and the meaning of life. It was published by Rider in the UK and Pantheon in the US, and reviewed by Galen Strawson in The Guardian and Raymond Tallis in Philosophy Now.
Is Consciousness Everywhere?
A collection, first published as an issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies, in which scientists, philosophers and spiritual thinkers respond to Galileo’s Error. It includes Goff’s reply to his critics.
Why?
Published by Oxford University Press, the book argues that the universe has a purpose. Its main evidence is the fine-tuning of physical constants, such as the strength of the strong nuclear force, for life. Goff argues that the suffering in the world makes an all-powerful, all-good God unlikely, weighs the multiverse and other alternatives, and considers a limited designer and “pan-agentialism”. Each chapter ends with a “Digging Deeper” section on objections.
In What Order to Read Philip Goff
The books form one line of argument. Consciousness and Fundamental Reality makes the technical case for panpsychism, Galileo’s Error makes the same case for general readers, Is Consciousness Everywhere? gathers the objections and his answers, and Why? asks what follows if consciousness and purpose are part of reality from the start.
Most readers do best starting with Galileo’s Error and then reading Why?. Go to Consciousness and Fundamental Reality only if you want the argument at full academic depth.
A reading path
1. Galileo’s Error (2019)
2. Is Consciousness Everywhere? (2022)
3. Why? The Purpose of the Universe (2023)
4. Consciousness and Fundamental Reality (2017)
The years · 1978–2024
Quick facts about Philip Goff
- Known for
- Philip Goff is known as a leading contemporary defender of panpsychism, the view that consciousness is a fundamental and widespread feature of the physical world.
- 1978
- Born
- 2019
- Galileo’s Error
- 2024
- Announces a turn to a “heretical” Christianity
- Born
- December 1978; British
- Education
- MA, University of Leeds; PhD, University of Reading, supervised by Galen Strawson
- Earlier posts
- Australian National University (Centre for Consciousness), Hertfordshire, King’s College London, Central European University, Birmingham
- Now
- Professor of Philosophy, Durham University
- Position
- Panpsychism (Russellian monism)
- YouTube
- Mind Chat, with the illusionist Keith Frankish, since 2021
The red mark is 2019: Galileo’s Error, the book that took his panpsychism to general readers.
How Philip Goff Writes: One Argument, Three Audiences
Goff builds his books as arguments by elimination. He sets out the options, dualism, materialism and panpsychism, and tries to show why the first two fail before defending the third. He uses well-known thought experiments, such as the Knowledge Argument, to argue that physical science describes how matter behaves but not what it intrinsically is, and he presents panpsychism as the simplest view consistent with the facts of empirical science. Even a critic, Raymond Tallis, called the book “lucid, reader-friendly”.
He writes the same position at different levels: a monograph for philosophers, a trade book for general readers, and then a volume in which critics answer him. Why? keeps that habit, closing each chapter with a “Digging Deeper” section for readers who want the objections. He also argues in public, in debates with the physicalist Massimo Pigliucci and the idealist Bernardo Kastrup, and in the YouTube series Mind Chat with Keith Frankish, who holds the opposite view.
His link to non-duality is the claim that mind and matter are not two separate kinds of thing. Where dualism splits the world in two and materialism removes experience from it, panpsychism makes consciousness part of what matter is. Galileo’s Error ends by linking this to how we treat the natural world, and in 2024 he described his own turn to a “heretical form of Christianity”.
Watch
Philip Goff in Conversation with Lex Fridman
Lex Fridman talks with Philip Goff about consciousness, panpsychism and the philosophy of mind in episode 261 of his podcast, posted in February 2022. From the official Lex Fridman channel.
Frequently asked questions about Philip Goff’s books
How many books has Philip Goff written?
Three as sole author, plus one he co-edited: Consciousness and Fundamental Reality (2017), Galileo’s Error (2019), Why? The Purpose of the Universe (2023), and Is Consciousness Everywhere? (2022), edited with Alex Moran. He has also written many academic papers and popular articles, including for The Guardian.
What are Philip Goff’s books in order?
Consciousness and Fundamental Reality (2017), Galileo’s Error: Foundations for a New Science of Consciousness (2019), Is Consciousness Everywhere? Essays on Panpsychism (2022, edited with Alex Moran) and Why? The Purpose of the Universe (2023).
Where should I start with Philip Goff?
With Galileo’s Error. It is the version of his argument for panpsychism written for general readers, and the later books assume it.
What is Philip Goff’s most famous book?
Galileo’s Error (2019), published by Rider in the UK and Pantheon in the US and reviewed in The Guardian and Philosophy Now.
What is panpsychism, in Goff’s version?
The view that consciousness is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of the physical world. On his account the basic constituents of reality have very simple forms of experience, and human consciousness arises from how vast numbers of them are arranged in the brain. He notes that most panpsychists would deny that your socks are conscious.
What do critics say about Goff’s panpsychism?
The main objection is the combination problem: how simple experiences of particles could add up to a single human mind. Reviewing Galileo’s Error in Philosophy Now (2019), Raymond Tallis wrote that Goff’s model, as long as it lacks details, “is only a promissory note”, while calling him “one of the most fearless of contemporary philosophers”. Physicalists such as Massimo Pigliucci and illusionists such as Keith Frankish reject his starting point, and idealists such as Bernardo Kastrup argue that consciousness is not spread over matter but is the whole of reality. Is Consciousness Everywhere? collects many such objections with Goff’s reply.
What is Why? The Purpose of the Universe about?
It argues that the universe has a purpose, mainly from the fine-tuning of physical constants for life. Goff argues that suffering counts against an all-powerful, all-good God, considers the multiverse and other explanations, and explores alternatives such as a limited designer and pan-agentialism.
Is Philip Goff religious?
He long called himself a “practising agnostic”. In 2024 he announced, in an essay for Aeon, that he had converted to what he called a “heretical form of Christianity”, and said in an interview that he was “close to 50%” sure it is true.
Has Philip Goff debated Bernardo Kastrup?
Yes. He has debated both the idealist Bernardo Kastrup and the physicalist Massimo Pigliucci. Goff and Kastrup agree that materialism fails, but disagree on whether consciousness is a property of matter or the whole of reality.
What is Mind Chat?
A YouTube channel Goff started in 2021 with his colleague Keith Frankish, who defends illusionism, the view opposite to his own.
Footnotes
- Philip Goff (philosopher) — Wikipedia
- Galileo’s Error — Wikipedia
- Professor Philip Goff — Durham University
- Raymond Tallis, review of Galileo’s Error — Philosophy Now
- Review of Why? The Purpose of the Universe — Foreword Reviews, 2023
- Review of Why? The Purpose of the Universe — The ISCAST Journal, 2025
- Philip Goff, My leap across the chasm — Aeon, 2024
- Philip Goff — Aeon author page
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“Panpsychism is crazy, but it’s also most probably true.”
— Philip Goff, Aeon
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