In his recent and critically acclaimed book "Why? The Purpose of the Universe" (2023), philosopher Philip Goff argues that there is purpose inherent in the universe - it seems to be creative, goal-oriented and moves towards greater consciousness. In short, there is meaning.

In this talk he will explain what his position really means - is it a sort of middle ground that moves beyond both God and atheism? And how did Goff come to give up his subjectivism: the idea that meaning is in the eye of the beholder and it is up to each and everyone to decide what is meaningful for him- or herself? And how did he arrive at the stance that there is objective meaning and morality in the universe?

Philip Goff is a philosopher and consciousness researcher who works as a professor at Durham University, UK. He has written lots of popular and academic articles, and his most recent book is the critically acclaimed Why? The Purpose of the Universe (Oxford University Press, 2023). Goff is an active debater, writer and communicator, and also co-hosts the podcast Mind Chat.

Commentator: Morten Tønnesen. He is professor of philosophy at the University of Stavanger. One of his main fields of interest is animals and their sentience and subjective experience. He has published many academic papers and book chapters on this and other subjects, as well as articles for a general public. He is a proponent of a biosemiotic view of consciousness.