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Material reductionism – the prevailing metaphysical view that reality can be understood entirely in terms of non-conscious physical stuff – is at odds with the existence of experience, the flow of time, and the privileged present. We propose an alternative scientifically-grounded metaphysical perspective that posits: (1) Consciousness represents a fundamental aspect of reality such that all material things enjoy some varying degree of consciousness (panpsychism); (2) nervous systems entail a nested hierarchy of distinct conscious observers; (3) both experience and the flow of time suggest the reality of a subjective realm of existence; (4) the flow of time suggests a process by which all observers collectively sample segments of continuous space/time at different rates, creating a composite of experienced moments of varying thickness; (5) the possibility that consciousness can influence the duration and selection of experienced moments affords a possible opportunity for genuine free will. Although speculative, these conjectures illustrate the type of alternative metaphysics that may be able to accommodate scientific observations without abandoning the self-evident facts that experience exists and time flows.

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-2079-4_11

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