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The Daimon and the Soul of the West: Finding identity, meaning, and purpose in a sacrificial life
We, Western minds, have forgotten who we are, despite having never once stopped being who we are. We’ve lost touch with the impersonal, Daimonic forces that give us direction and the sacrificial nature of our existence. No longer do we realize that our lives aren't, have never been, and will never be about ourselves. Consequently, we've lost our ability to sense the immanent context that couches our lives in meaning and purpose. Our alienation from our own inborn nature and role has led to a tragic a divorce between essence and narrative, being and action. This book is an effort to help heal this schism. It’s about re-encountering our natural selves and guiding Daimon, re-tuning into the archetypal dispositions we embody, and re-learning how to navigate the choppy waters of life in a spontaneous and fulfilling manner.
167 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 26, 2025
About the author
Bernardo Kastrup
24 books695 followersBernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, Bernardo has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the 'Casimir Effect' of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI hardware company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, Bernardo's ideas have been featured on 'Scientific American,' the magazine of 'The Institute of Art and Ideas,' the 'Blog of the American Philosophical Association' and 'Big Think,' among others. His most defining book is 'Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century's only plausible metaphysics.' For more information, visit www.bernardokastrup.com.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
December 17, 2025
I always enjoy reading more biographical works of people whose work I admire. The life philosophy put forward though I believe is flawed. Here is what I disagree with:
1. The positing of an entity (the daimon) to refer to aspects of yourself you have a hard time integrating into your ego.
2. The lack of self-awarenes into the mind-body connection when it comes to symptoms. To anyone who has studied the work of John Sarno, it's very clear Bernardo has TMS. He's a kind of poster child for it actually, putting a shit ton of pressure on himself and creating games where he has the right to relax only after working on things he doesn't want to (!) but his daimon wants him to. And of course, like any mind game you play with yourself, you do get real relief when your made up conditions for winning are met. That's not very far from what people with OCD do daily. He then treats his overactive nervous system symptoms (IBS, tinnitus, anxiety, insomnia, etc.) as structural ailments (he falls in the common trap of believing that because something had an acute beginning, its chronic continuation must be structural, which Sarno talks about) and does not relate it to his way of living and thinking. You'd think that the fact he got some relief by taking an antidepressant would nudge him to that conclusion, but somehow his logic works around it. This is no different than the philosophy spoused by Jordan Peterson, which also amounts to "repress and do more". Jordan Peterson also takes antidepressants and as I write these words is back home after a period at an ICU because of "mysterious ailments that defy logical explanation". Sigh. A couple years back he nearly died from trying extreme forms of weaning from benzos. The guy is another poster child for TMS, and like Kastrup, devised a whole philosophy to teach people to be like them and get these awesome health results. You'd think people like him and Kasturp would use these questionable health results to do an extreme makeover of their worldview until they find one where their bodies seem to be in tune with the lives they're leading instead of suffering so often, taking pills and even considering suicide. But alas, they are so locked in their coping mechanisms of workaholism (discussed below) that they instead double down on it, positing that life is actually suffering anyway and being happy is for kids or the naive, and why not to top it all off add an incorporeal executioner to the mix. Holy moly. Talk about the blind leading the blind.
3. As mentioned above, he is hopelessly oblivious of his workaholism, which seems to be his main venue for dealing with his huge pent-up anxiety. Since this avenue is enough only to reduce temporarily the pressure he constitutionally puts on himself, he then plays the aforementioned mental game where he allows himself to relax if he works more ("obey the daemon"). The relief it gives him is ever only temporary, of course. He then extrapolates to say this is the human condition, the perpetual uneasiness and dissatisfaction, instead of realizing that a mammal like us needs more than work to feel more permanently less anxious: we need family, community, belonging, a serious physical exercise routine and of course, a philosophy that allows for a lot more rest and repair. He doesn't seem to have much in the way of any of that, not doing anything to integrate his home country and family into the picture and opting for a philosophy that only puts more demands on himself. I can't help to think he'd have profound breakthroughs if he became familiar with the family systems branch of psychology as theorized by Murray Bowen, and realized the unconscious energy it takes to maintain an emotional cut off of this proportion. Which takes me to the next point which is that...
4. He seems not to see that trying to ignore his brazilianness to the degree that he does is actually a great feat of repressing, since he is as Brazilian as they (we) come. A Brazilian intelectual, sure, but still a Brazilian through and through, as any Brazilian can attest. It looks like that's a big shadow side he resists, wanting to always be seen as a european who happened to be born and raised (all the way into adultohood!) in Brazil, instead of a very Brazilian man who prefers living abroad for many reasons, including culture and work, sure, but most important of all the distance it provides from any association with Brazil (which is indeed a country riddled with problems and of a general tribal mindset like most third world countries), from his family of origin, and perhaps most important of all, from his mother, whose complicated relationship he touches upon in the book. People underestimate the lengths someone will go to cut off emotional contact with their difficult mothers. Living abroad is more often connected to this unconscious maneuver than people normally realize, and it is paradoxically easier to go through all that that process entails than to deal with the situation head on.
There's more I could say but this review is long enough. I hope one day Bernardo truly integrates the Brazilian and his mother in him (which are currently overcompensated by Europe and father), and most importantly starts honoring his body, seeing it as much of a source of wisdom as his mind and his "daimon". Peace, happiness and health are possible in this life to a much greater degree than he believes. They're the actual compass of the wise if you ask me, and can make one's contribution to the world flow even better. I wouldn't doubt that a single book written by Bernardo where he was internally aligned and joyful during the task would have a greater impact in the world than his 10 books written in a state of agony and despair to obey the executioner.
PS: In a recent interview he did with the actress from Big Bang Theory, she mentioned John Sarno but Bernardo didn't quite notice it. I was like "oooo.. so close!"
1. The positing of an entity (the daimon) to refer to aspects of yourself you have a hard time integrating into your ego.
2. The lack of self-awarenes into the mind-body connection when it comes to symptoms. To anyone who has studied the work of John Sarno, it's very clear Bernardo has TMS. He's a kind of poster child for it actually, putting a shit ton of pressure on himself and creating games where he has the right to relax only after working on things he doesn't want to (!) but his daimon wants him to. And of course, like any mind game you play with yourself, you do get real relief when your made up conditions for winning are met. That's not very far from what people with OCD do daily. He then treats his overactive nervous system symptoms (IBS, tinnitus, anxiety, insomnia, etc.) as structural ailments (he falls in the common trap of believing that because something had an acute beginning, its chronic continuation must be structural, which Sarno talks about) and does not relate it to his way of living and thinking. You'd think that the fact he got some relief by taking an antidepressant would nudge him to that conclusion, but somehow his logic works around it. This is no different than the philosophy spoused by Jordan Peterson, which also amounts to "repress and do more". Jordan Peterson also takes antidepressants and as I write these words is back home after a period at an ICU because of "mysterious ailments that defy logical explanation". Sigh. A couple years back he nearly died from trying extreme forms of weaning from benzos. The guy is another poster child for TMS, and like Kastrup, devised a whole philosophy to teach people to be like them and get these awesome health results. You'd think people like him and Kasturp would use these questionable health results to do an extreme makeover of their worldview until they find one where their bodies seem to be in tune with the lives they're leading instead of suffering so often, taking pills and even considering suicide. But alas, they are so locked in their coping mechanisms of workaholism (discussed below) that they instead double down on it, positing that life is actually suffering anyway and being happy is for kids or the naive, and why not to top it all off add an incorporeal executioner to the mix. Holy moly. Talk about the blind leading the blind.
3. As mentioned above, he is hopelessly oblivious of his workaholism, which seems to be his main venue for dealing with his huge pent-up anxiety. Since this avenue is enough only to reduce temporarily the pressure he constitutionally puts on himself, he then plays the aforementioned mental game where he allows himself to relax if he works more ("obey the daemon"). The relief it gives him is ever only temporary, of course. He then extrapolates to say this is the human condition, the perpetual uneasiness and dissatisfaction, instead of realizing that a mammal like us needs more than work to feel more permanently less anxious: we need family, community, belonging, a serious physical exercise routine and of course, a philosophy that allows for a lot more rest and repair. He doesn't seem to have much in the way of any of that, not doing anything to integrate his home country and family into the picture and opting for a philosophy that only puts more demands on himself. I can't help to think he'd have profound breakthroughs if he became familiar with the family systems branch of psychology as theorized by Murray Bowen, and realized the unconscious energy it takes to maintain an emotional cut off of this proportion. Which takes me to the next point which is that...
4. He seems not to see that trying to ignore his brazilianness to the degree that he does is actually a great feat of repressing, since he is as Brazilian as they (we) come. A Brazilian intelectual, sure, but still a Brazilian through and through, as any Brazilian can attest. It looks like that's a big shadow side he resists, wanting to always be seen as a european who happened to be born and raised (all the way into adultohood!) in Brazil, instead of a very Brazilian man who prefers living abroad for many reasons, including culture and work, sure, but most important of all the distance it provides from any association with Brazil (which is indeed a country riddled with problems and of a general tribal mindset like most third world countries), from his family of origin, and perhaps most important of all, from his mother, whose complicated relationship he touches upon in the book. People underestimate the lengths someone will go to cut off emotional contact with their difficult mothers. Living abroad is more often connected to this unconscious maneuver than people normally realize, and it is paradoxically easier to go through all that that process entails than to deal with the situation head on.
There's more I could say but this review is long enough. I hope one day Bernardo truly integrates the Brazilian and his mother in him (which are currently overcompensated by Europe and father), and most importantly starts honoring his body, seeing it as much of a source of wisdom as his mind and his "daimon". Peace, happiness and health are possible in this life to a much greater degree than he believes. They're the actual compass of the wise if you ask me, and can make one's contribution to the world flow even better. I wouldn't doubt that a single book written by Bernardo where he was internally aligned and joyful during the task would have a greater impact in the world than his 10 books written in a state of agony and despair to obey the executioner.
PS: In a recent interview he did with the actress from Big Bang Theory, she mentioned John Sarno but Bernardo didn't quite notice it. I was like "oooo.. so close!"
August 30, 2025
Kastrup is such a brilliant pattern spotter. He notices the commonalities between philosophies, theologies and the cultural differences at which they’re implemented to provide such an interesting and reflective exploration of their applications.
I would say this book is life changing for me. Especially for someone of Jamaican and British descent.
The concept of the Daimon and the western mind and then contrasted to the Pan-African mind has really helped me to recognise my own Daimon, the prophets of my people who came before me (Toussaint Louverture, Malcolm X, Sam Sharpe to name a few) and how the mind at large (Idealism, God’s mind etc) works through us in an immeasurable and intangible way to fulfil its own will.
Kastrup also provides such helpful frameworks to balance ego, Daimon, ID and humaneness.
Loved this book. It has set me on a deeper path to integrate and know more about my Daimon and to pursue further literature on Daimons.
Loved it. A softer, more personal book than his others.
I would say this book is life changing for me. Especially for someone of Jamaican and British descent.
The concept of the Daimon and the western mind and then contrasted to the Pan-African mind has really helped me to recognise my own Daimon, the prophets of my people who came before me (Toussaint Louverture, Malcolm X, Sam Sharpe to name a few) and how the mind at large (Idealism, God’s mind etc) works through us in an immeasurable and intangible way to fulfil its own will.
Kastrup also provides such helpful frameworks to balance ego, Daimon, ID and humaneness.
Loved this book. It has set me on a deeper path to integrate and know more about my Daimon and to pursue further literature on Daimons.
Loved it. A softer, more personal book than his others.
September 17, 2025
LOVEEEEEDDD this book!!!!@@@@ Like wowzers. Bernardo starts by recounting that Socrates was guided by a Daimon, an inner voice that would call out in protest whenever Socrates was on the wrong path. The greatest living philosopher of our time then continues by retelling the moments of his life where he was guided by his own Daimon, and how that led him to doing important work and overcoming his personal psychological challenges.
I liked
• The Daimon is biologically communicated: through bodily sensations of pleasure and pain, tension, and even pathologies like headaches and in Bernardo’s case, tinnitus. Think about what that means… If the Daimon is real, our bodies are the output instruments of some ungodly information processing system that can predict the future better than we can. And actually, if you take it as far as Bernardo can, our bodies know the future and past in its entirety, because he argues that the Daimon makes decisions sub specie aeternitatus, from the standpoint of eternity.
• I love how rigorous his arguments are. He always makes sense, and he always addresses everything you might critique even more clearly than you could possibly say it yourself.
• This is another point where he makes sense of hippy new age bs intuitions. Where morons in Bali guess, Bernardo reasons from first principles to the point in a compelling way. I love him for that.
• Bernardo is the fucking man. So it’s cool to hear his life story and hear about his personal challenges. As well as his future fears about being pressured by his Daimon into the wise old man archetype.
I didn’t like
• Bernardo argues the whole following-your-daimon-leads-to-meaning thing from the standpoint of him being a “western mind”. In other words, this is how western minds specifically generate meaning. For Eastern minds, go find a guru and meditate. This “westernness” is a central idea to the whole book, because he argues, in the West we are obsessed with analytic thinking, reason, and ultimately, the external world. We want to find the meaning in external objects and see our life as a meaningful contribution to the big cosmic drama. I honestly didn’t buy into much of this. I just didn’t, I don’t think our psychology is so heavily conditioned by our culture that it necessarily determines how we answer the big questions of life. Why should “what does life mean?” be all that different for someone born in Tibet vs Netherlands? Kastrup does anticipate this criticism near the end but his answer didn’t convince me, which is rare because I’ve literally bought into an entirely different metaphysical worldview because of this man’s arguments.
I liked
• The Daimon is biologically communicated: through bodily sensations of pleasure and pain, tension, and even pathologies like headaches and in Bernardo’s case, tinnitus. Think about what that means… If the Daimon is real, our bodies are the output instruments of some ungodly information processing system that can predict the future better than we can. And actually, if you take it as far as Bernardo can, our bodies know the future and past in its entirety, because he argues that the Daimon makes decisions sub specie aeternitatus, from the standpoint of eternity.
• I love how rigorous his arguments are. He always makes sense, and he always addresses everything you might critique even more clearly than you could possibly say it yourself.
• This is another point where he makes sense of hippy new age bs intuitions. Where morons in Bali guess, Bernardo reasons from first principles to the point in a compelling way. I love him for that.
• Bernardo is the fucking man. So it’s cool to hear his life story and hear about his personal challenges. As well as his future fears about being pressured by his Daimon into the wise old man archetype.
I didn’t like
• Bernardo argues the whole following-your-daimon-leads-to-meaning thing from the standpoint of him being a “western mind”. In other words, this is how western minds specifically generate meaning. For Eastern minds, go find a guru and meditate. This “westernness” is a central idea to the whole book, because he argues, in the West we are obsessed with analytic thinking, reason, and ultimately, the external world. We want to find the meaning in external objects and see our life as a meaningful contribution to the big cosmic drama. I honestly didn’t buy into much of this. I just didn’t, I don’t think our psychology is so heavily conditioned by our culture that it necessarily determines how we answer the big questions of life. Why should “what does life mean?” be all that different for someone born in Tibet vs Netherlands? Kastrup does anticipate this criticism near the end but his answer didn’t convince me, which is rare because I’ve literally bought into an entirely different metaphysical worldview because of this man’s arguments.
August 30, 2025
Kastrup is such a brilliant pattern spotter. He notices the commonalities between philosophies, theologies and the cultural differences at which they’re implemented to provide such an interesting and reflective exploration of their applications.
I would say this book is life changing for me. Especially for someone of Jamaican and British descent.
The concept of the Daimon and the western mind and then contrasted to the Pan-African mind has really helped me to recognise my own Daimon, the prophets of my people who came before me (Toussaint Louverture, Malcolm X, Sam Sharpe to name a few) and how the mind at large (Idealism, God’s mind etc) works through us in an immeasurable and intangible way to fulfil its own will.
Kastrup also provides such helpful frameworks to balance ego, Daimon, ID and humaneness.
Loved this book. It has set me on a deeper path to integrate and know more about my Daimon and to pursue further literature on Daimons.
Loved it. A softer, more personal book than his others.
I would say this book is life changing for me. Especially for someone of Jamaican and British descent.
The concept of the Daimon and the western mind and then contrasted to the Pan-African mind has really helped me to recognise my own Daimon, the prophets of my people who came before me (Toussaint Louverture, Malcolm X, Sam Sharpe to name a few) and how the mind at large (Idealism, God’s mind etc) works through us in an immeasurable and intangible way to fulfil its own will.
Kastrup also provides such helpful frameworks to balance ego, Daimon, ID and humaneness.
Loved this book. It has set me on a deeper path to integrate and know more about my Daimon and to pursue further literature on Daimons.
Loved it. A softer, more personal book than his others.
September 5, 2026
I genuinely enjoyed this book, but I can't say that I thought it was very good.
Early on, Kastrup makes the following disclaimer: "[T]his isn't a book with an argument. I cannot even hope to objectively defend its message through logic or measurable evidence, for it belongs in the realm of inner life, of soul existence. As such, I can only hope to convey my message to you by striving to help you recognize it in yourself". The problem with this is that the book is still full of essentially empirical claims, and claims of this kind should only be accepted when we have sufficient evidence for them. Maybe Kastrup would say that there is in fact sufficient evidence to warrant belief in the claims he makes, but that this evidence is not reducible to words on paper but can only be accessed through personal experience. But such a response really doesn't work in my view. For he is not merely making claims about the structure of experience that become clear upon introspection, but instead puts forward a theory that would (at least in part) explain why our experience is structured the way it is. This means that even if I were able to relate perfectly well to everything he is saying and genuinely find within myself the exact same things he reports, then this does not at all provide me with sufficient evidence for the claims he makes. It would not establish that a thing such as a Daimon – an entity with its own goals, yet without meta-cognitive abilities, that is separate from our ego but can communicate with it – exists (the experiences Kastrup provides surely are compatible with alternate hypotheses). It would not at all establish that there is a teleological arch in my life. It would not establish that my life is not about me and never can be. To warrant belief in these claims, actual evidence and argumentation is needed. Without it, no rational mind should be convinced of the claims presented, but should remain agnostic about them instead.
I also want to say that when the book does contain arguments, they oftentimes are just not very convincing. For instance, to illustrate the obviousness of the idea that out life cannot be about us, Kastrup analogizes human life to an apple blossom. Just like the life of the apple blossom is not about itself, but instead, as part of the tree and of nature as a whole, serves a much greater purpose than itself, so too it would be naive to think that our lives are about us, rather than about serving something much greater than ourselves. But this to me makes almost no sense. For what does it mean for something to "be about" some other thing? When someone says "my life is about me" they would normally mean something like "the things I do in my life are (ideally) arranged in such a way to serve my own desires, such as feeling happy and satisfied". This makes sense, because a human being is a creature with desires and is therefore morally relevant. For the analogy with the apple blossom to work, the apple blossom must be capable of being convinced of the idea that its life is about itself. And if it is capable of doing so, and it means something like what a human would mean by it, then the apple blossom is a creature with its own desires and goals. If that is the case, then it is not at all irrational or naive for the apple blossom to want to arrange its life in such a way that its own desires be fulfilled, if it is able to do so. It would not be wrong for it to think that its life really is about itself (along with, perhaps, the other sentient beings around it, if it has empathy). The only reason why it currently makes sense to us that its life is not about itself but instead about something 'greater', is because we recognize the apple blossom as a non-sentient entity that is useful to sentient creatures with desires such as ourselves and other animals. Those facts – the non-sentience of the apple blossom and the sentience of the creatures benefiting from it – is what the intuition hinges on, and it's exactly why we cannot simply analogize the situation of the apple blossom to that of humans.
Lastly, I do want to say that even though I remain unconvinced of the claims Kastrup makes in this book, ever since making myself familiar with his analytic idealism and finding myself very strongly influenced by it, claims like the ones presented here seem at least a lot less far-fetched to me than they would have when I was still calling myself a materialist. Still, I would bet that Kastrup would agree that analytic idealism in no way entails the claims made in this book, and cannot on its own be sufficient evidence for them.
Early on, Kastrup makes the following disclaimer: "[T]his isn't a book with an argument. I cannot even hope to objectively defend its message through logic or measurable evidence, for it belongs in the realm of inner life, of soul existence. As such, I can only hope to convey my message to you by striving to help you recognize it in yourself". The problem with this is that the book is still full of essentially empirical claims, and claims of this kind should only be accepted when we have sufficient evidence for them. Maybe Kastrup would say that there is in fact sufficient evidence to warrant belief in the claims he makes, but that this evidence is not reducible to words on paper but can only be accessed through personal experience. But such a response really doesn't work in my view. For he is not merely making claims about the structure of experience that become clear upon introspection, but instead puts forward a theory that would (at least in part) explain why our experience is structured the way it is. This means that even if I were able to relate perfectly well to everything he is saying and genuinely find within myself the exact same things he reports, then this does not at all provide me with sufficient evidence for the claims he makes. It would not establish that a thing such as a Daimon – an entity with its own goals, yet without meta-cognitive abilities, that is separate from our ego but can communicate with it – exists (the experiences Kastrup provides surely are compatible with alternate hypotheses). It would not at all establish that there is a teleological arch in my life. It would not establish that my life is not about me and never can be. To warrant belief in these claims, actual evidence and argumentation is needed. Without it, no rational mind should be convinced of the claims presented, but should remain agnostic about them instead.
I also want to say that when the book does contain arguments, they oftentimes are just not very convincing. For instance, to illustrate the obviousness of the idea that out life cannot be about us, Kastrup analogizes human life to an apple blossom. Just like the life of the apple blossom is not about itself, but instead, as part of the tree and of nature as a whole, serves a much greater purpose than itself, so too it would be naive to think that our lives are about us, rather than about serving something much greater than ourselves. But this to me makes almost no sense. For what does it mean for something to "be about" some other thing? When someone says "my life is about me" they would normally mean something like "the things I do in my life are (ideally) arranged in such a way to serve my own desires, such as feeling happy and satisfied". This makes sense, because a human being is a creature with desires and is therefore morally relevant. For the analogy with the apple blossom to work, the apple blossom must be capable of being convinced of the idea that its life is about itself. And if it is capable of doing so, and it means something like what a human would mean by it, then the apple blossom is a creature with its own desires and goals. If that is the case, then it is not at all irrational or naive for the apple blossom to want to arrange its life in such a way that its own desires be fulfilled, if it is able to do so. It would not be wrong for it to think that its life really is about itself (along with, perhaps, the other sentient beings around it, if it has empathy). The only reason why it currently makes sense to us that its life is not about itself but instead about something 'greater', is because we recognize the apple blossom as a non-sentient entity that is useful to sentient creatures with desires such as ourselves and other animals. Those facts – the non-sentience of the apple blossom and the sentience of the creatures benefiting from it – is what the intuition hinges on, and it's exactly why we cannot simply analogize the situation of the apple blossom to that of humans.
Lastly, I do want to say that even though I remain unconvinced of the claims Kastrup makes in this book, ever since making myself familiar with his analytic idealism and finding myself very strongly influenced by it, claims like the ones presented here seem at least a lot less far-fetched to me than they would have when I was still calling myself a materialist. Still, I would bet that Kastrup would agree that analytic idealism in no way entails the claims made in this book, and cannot on its own be sufficient evidence for them.
December 1, 2025
When the left brain becomes too dominant, it finds itself in a quandary. It can up its analytical game to nail down objectively why it should cede more oomph to its right-side counterpart; but that may serve only to aggravate the decibel imbalance between the two. On the other hand, the left side might try to all but mute itself in hopes of encouraging the right to take on a bigger role; but more than likely that will only showcase the left's fecklessness when trying to attain low noise levels.
Mr. Kastrup has good company among philosopher gurus who want to tamp down the left brain and boost the right: Alan Watts, Thomas Merton, and Ian McGilchrist come to mind. But there's potentially a humorous element in such a psychological stance where such authors' left-brains end up simply "protesting too much," in a manner approaching that of a Popeye cartoon dispute. That may be an exaggeration, but Kastrup's effort here did bring Popeye & co. to this reader's mind.
The ideal solution is for the wordy philosopher to become an artist instead, or perhaps, even better, a gardener whose friends are plants. Analytic philosophy of Kastrup's kind seems fated never to escape left-style shackles, no matter how hard it beefs about it. Maybe the whole issue should be side-stepped and the hemispheres allowed simply to move on as their nature directs.
Mr. Kastrup has good company among philosopher gurus who want to tamp down the left brain and boost the right: Alan Watts, Thomas Merton, and Ian McGilchrist come to mind. But there's potentially a humorous element in such a psychological stance where such authors' left-brains end up simply "protesting too much," in a manner approaching that of a Popeye cartoon dispute. That may be an exaggeration, but Kastrup's effort here did bring Popeye & co. to this reader's mind.
The ideal solution is for the wordy philosopher to become an artist instead, or perhaps, even better, a gardener whose friends are plants. Analytic philosophy of Kastrup's kind seems fated never to escape left-style shackles, no matter how hard it beefs about it. Maybe the whole issue should be side-stepped and the hemispheres allowed simply to move on as their nature directs.
December 4, 2025
Not the first Kastrup book I would recommend to anyone unfamiliar with his work, but still a rewarding and enriching read. Deeply philosophical while also autobiographical. Attempts to answer questions such as: “Why are we westerners the way that we are?”,“What is the meaning of life?”, “Why do we suffer?”, and “What do I do with my life?”
A quote from early on in the book:
“The ability to discern glory in defeat, heroism in suffering, nobility in sacrifice, completeness in dichotomy, harmony in opposition, significance in banality, and meaning in absurdity, is the unique gift of time. To live only in the present moment is to reject this gift, something the Western mind intuitively understands. For we, Westerners, are constitutionally incapable of living only in the present. This is a blessing, not a curse; a birth right, not a liability; something to be embraced and celebrated, not rejected and overcome through decades of meditation. To eliminate time —the past and the future-from the crucible of the Western mind is a mutilation. What we need is to develop a mature, functional relationship with time —with the regrets and horrors of the past and the anxieties associated with the future-not cut it off from our lives. Whether we like it or not, we have a past, and we have a future; they are both integral parts of us right now.”
A quote from early on in the book:
“The ability to discern glory in defeat, heroism in suffering, nobility in sacrifice, completeness in dichotomy, harmony in opposition, significance in banality, and meaning in absurdity, is the unique gift of time. To live only in the present moment is to reject this gift, something the Western mind intuitively understands. For we, Westerners, are constitutionally incapable of living only in the present. This is a blessing, not a curse; a birth right, not a liability; something to be embraced and celebrated, not rejected and overcome through decades of meditation. To eliminate time —the past and the future-from the crucible of the Western mind is a mutilation. What we need is to develop a mature, functional relationship with time —with the regrets and horrors of the past and the anxieties associated with the future-not cut it off from our lives. Whether we like it or not, we have a past, and we have a future; they are both integral parts of us right now.”
May 5, 2026
Šī bija mana pirmā sastapšanās ar Bernardu Kastrupu. Jāatzīst, ka gribas izlasīt vēl kaut ko.
Varbūt ne visam viņa sacītajam šeit varētu piekrist, bet lielos vilcienos un mazos tramvajos esam uz viena viļņa.
Par impersonal in us,
Par Daimona ne-demonizēšanu,
Par rietumnieka skatījumu uz realitāti iepretim austrumu redzējumam,
Par upurēšanos,
Īsāk sakot, par rietumnieka šizofrēniju (veselīgu vai neveselīgu, tas cits jautājums)
Vismaz citātu ir ļoti daudz ko paņemt. Plus ļoti atsvaidzinošs rakstīšanas stils priekš manis uz šī MI un akadēmisku pētījumu lasīšanas perioda fona.
Varbūt ne visam viņa sacītajam šeit varētu piekrist, bet lielos vilcienos un mazos tramvajos esam uz viena viļņa.
Par impersonal in us,
Par Daimona ne-demonizēšanu,
Par rietumnieka skatījumu uz realitāti iepretim austrumu redzējumam,
Par upurēšanos,
Īsāk sakot, par rietumnieka šizofrēniju (veselīgu vai neveselīgu, tas cits jautājums)
Vismaz citātu ir ļoti daudz ko paņemt. Plus ļoti atsvaidzinošs rakstīšanas stils priekš manis uz šī MI un akadēmisku pētījumu lasīšanas perioda fona.
June 15, 2026
I learned a lot about myself reading someone else’s memoir. Gee whiz. This is my second Bernardo Kastrup book and I enjoyed it more than “Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell”.
Bernardo is not a very good writer but he is a very necessary writer, if that makes sense. His ideas are super important and he should probably never stop writing. I’m actually quite fond of his shitty writing now; it’s like eating candy before bed.
I learn so much in his books and they’re easy to get through quickly. This one got a little preachy at times, but the analytical concepts were well worth it.
Bernardo is not a very good writer but he is a very necessary writer, if that makes sense. His ideas are super important and he should probably never stop writing. I’m actually quite fond of his shitty writing now; it’s like eating candy before bed.
I learn so much in his books and they’re easy to get through quickly. This one got a little preachy at times, but the analytical concepts were well worth it.
August 1, 2026
Intrigerend boek. Kastrup maakt een mooie mix tussen filosofie en zijn eigen levensverhaal. Dat maakt het boek goed leesbaar. Hij wil ons niet met argumenten overtuigen maar inspireren in de hoop dat we zijn verhaal herkennen.
De eerste helft van het boek vond ik het sterkst: een analyse van de moderne mens die vastloopt in existentiële vragen. Daarna zette ik steeds meer vraagtekens in de kantlijn. Kastrup stelt dat het leven door onze Daimon - onze natuur - wordt gestuurd of dat we dat moeten toelaten. Alle contextuele invloeden (opvoeding, omgeving ed) worden daarmee op een lager pitje gezet. Onduidelijk blijft echter hoe de Daimon danwel ons eigen ‘willen’ zich tot elkaar verhouden. Dat de ‘leiding’ van onze natuur ‘goed voelt’ lijkt een wat wankele basis daarvoor. Dat laat onverlet dat het beeld van de Daimon inspirerend is. Ook zijn (korte) uitleg hoe we met onze wereld omgaan in Oost en West is verhelderend.
Leuk boek om te bespreken in onze leesclub!
De eerste helft van het boek vond ik het sterkst: een analyse van de moderne mens die vastloopt in existentiële vragen. Daarna zette ik steeds meer vraagtekens in de kantlijn. Kastrup stelt dat het leven door onze Daimon - onze natuur - wordt gestuurd of dat we dat moeten toelaten. Alle contextuele invloeden (opvoeding, omgeving ed) worden daarmee op een lager pitje gezet. Onduidelijk blijft echter hoe de Daimon danwel ons eigen ‘willen’ zich tot elkaar verhouden. Dat de ‘leiding’ van onze natuur ‘goed voelt’ lijkt een wat wankele basis daarvoor. Dat laat onverlet dat het beeld van de Daimon inspirerend is. Ook zijn (korte) uitleg hoe we met onze wereld omgaan in Oost en West is verhelderend.
Leuk boek om te bespreken in onze leesclub!
March 27, 2026
Contradictory to analytical idealism, and at times plainly antithetical to its claims. The author himself acknowledges that all his books are exercises in self-healing, so don't expect the intellectual integrity of a scholar on a cooperative and coherent quest for new practical knowledge about how nature works. This is a wholly self-serving book containing the confusing ramblings of a troubled mind. A complete waste of time.
December 9, 2025
Appreciated hearing Bernardo’s life (to date) story and how it has shaped his philosophy. The only criticism; it was too short. Throughly enjoyed the book and more importantly it gave me a different outlook for my Daemon. A new start to building the remainder of my life in harmony with it, rather than resisting it.
December 11, 2025
As a big fan of Bernardo’s philosophy, I enjoyed how this book moves beyond his purely analytical ideas into an exploration of the fascinating concept of the Daimon. Drawing heavily on Plato, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Jung, it is also deeply personal and influential in how the Western mind may approach this life.
4.5⭐️
4.5⭐️
August 2, 2026
Compliments to the chef, in this case Bernardo's daimon, on this masterpiece of a book. I have few words, only gratitude and deep recognition. Exceptionally well-crafted, humble, poignant, and true. My own daimon thoughtfully bequeathed me with a philosophy degree in the first part of life, that I may now engage with and understand all of this as I lean into the second act.
January 21, 2026
The blurb of this book was word salad to me, but I picked it up anyway because I like a lot of Kastrup's ideas.
This ended up being a rambling pseudo autobiography. There are some gems here, but I didn't get much from it.
This ended up being a rambling pseudo autobiography. There are some gems here, but I didn't get much from it.
September 1, 2025
Everyman’s Life is My Own
Bernardo succeeds, for me, to encourage us all by the example of his own life and struggles. The book is a picture of his own heart, blood and all.
Bernardo succeeds, for me, to encourage us all by the example of his own life and struggles. The book is a picture of his own heart, blood and all.
Read
February 12, 2026review text for 4201
July 13, 2026
Exceptional book. Somehow really freeing, this idea of (to a degree) surrendering to the daimon/forces of nature. Will likely read again at some point
March 7, 2026
This book has the extraordinary purpose of revealing to the reader that certain things about the world should now become self evident - merely upon self reflection after reading. While I personally found it insightful, I’m not wholly convinced.
Kastrup’s personal stories are powerful anchors for making his arguments on the importance of genuine sacrifice or how pain and suffering can forge you into your true self.
While some of his claims seem extreme - like knowingly triggering the smoke alarm, thereby inducing a health emergency - they are coherent and supportive of his claims on the mechanisms of the daimon - though I do wonder if his extreme proclivity to borderline workaholism is what drives this, rather than his conceptual framework.
I found three issues with this book:
Firstly, his distinction between Western and Eastern/other minds appears arbitrary and sparsely defined. This comes up often and doesn’t always seem relevant.
Secondly, while his distinction between the daimon and the personal self is understood to be important, it was not obvious to me where those boundaries lay and how exactly I would discover them.
Thirdly, his claim that this book should make his daimonic interpretations of life self evident to the reader is burdened by the extreme specificity of this somewhat biographical work to his own life - I do not believe that it can generalize as broadly as he claims.
This book in my interpretation is a kind of a manual on how to reflect on your own life and reframe your experiences according to a very specific framework that recognises your purpose. As this is so personal, it is much appreciated - far from the abstract philosophy of many texts that most readers won’t connect with in the same way.
However, I cannot give it a perfect score because, in my view, the distinction between the daimon and the personal self is too important to leave without further explanation - and because I do not hold his daimonic framework in its entirety to be self evident.
Other readers may be bothered by Kastrup’s style - assuming the reader will draw their own, similar conclusion about the nature of the daimon - instead of making powerful arguments that are hard to refute. This was not a weakness to me, as I believe the book to be a kind of assisted meditation for the reader - this I appreciated.
Kastrup’s personal stories are powerful anchors for making his arguments on the importance of genuine sacrifice or how pain and suffering can forge you into your true self.
While some of his claims seem extreme - like knowingly triggering the smoke alarm, thereby inducing a health emergency - they are coherent and supportive of his claims on the mechanisms of the daimon - though I do wonder if his extreme proclivity to borderline workaholism is what drives this, rather than his conceptual framework.
I found three issues with this book:
Firstly, his distinction between Western and Eastern/other minds appears arbitrary and sparsely defined. This comes up often and doesn’t always seem relevant.
Secondly, while his distinction between the daimon and the personal self is understood to be important, it was not obvious to me where those boundaries lay and how exactly I would discover them.
Thirdly, his claim that this book should make his daimonic interpretations of life self evident to the reader is burdened by the extreme specificity of this somewhat biographical work to his own life - I do not believe that it can generalize as broadly as he claims.
This book in my interpretation is a kind of a manual on how to reflect on your own life and reframe your experiences according to a very specific framework that recognises your purpose. As this is so personal, it is much appreciated - far from the abstract philosophy of many texts that most readers won’t connect with in the same way.
However, I cannot give it a perfect score because, in my view, the distinction between the daimon and the personal self is too important to leave without further explanation - and because I do not hold his daimonic framework in its entirety to be self evident.
Other readers may be bothered by Kastrup’s style - assuming the reader will draw their own, similar conclusion about the nature of the daimon - instead of making powerful arguments that are hard to refute. This was not a weakness to me, as I believe the book to be a kind of assisted meditation for the reader - this I appreciated.
December 5, 2025
Memory is a capricious animal, a stray dog that comes and goes, but the truth, the truth of what inhabits us, that cannot be erased with a simple gesture, it stays there, gnawing in the depths of the soul, insisting on its presence, like a stone in the shoe or the conscience that pursues us, that thing that the Greeks called daimon.
It is not the demon that the priests of Rome later foisted upon us, no, that creature with horns and a tail that serves to scare little boys and old women, no, the daimon is something else, it is our inner voice, our guide, the consciousness that knows more than we do, our essence, our destiny if we want to give it such a grand name.
We, creatures of clay and breath, wander this world like blind men feeling a wall, obsessed with the visible, with the palpable, with money in our pockets and food on the table, we forget the invisible, what whispers in our ear when we make silence, a rare thing these days, with so much noise from cars and televisions and the rush to get nowhere. The daimon is our link to the mystery, to the whole, to what cannot be explained in the science books that the emissary, that sad and unimaginative figure, writes with his dry pen and his iron logic.
The daimon knows that we are not the center of the universe, that we are just a point in a vast and complex web, the web of consciousness that Kastrup, with courage and stubbornness, insists on showing us, a web where everything is connected, the here and the beyond, the living and the dead, what was and what will be, if time is that straight line they taught us in school. The wisdom of the ancients, the wisdom that the Church of Rome, with its lust for power and its obsession with control, crushed and buried under the stones of cathedrals, that wisdom spoke of the daimon as our true self, the self that lives in totality, the self that knows that immortality is not a promise for after death, but a state of being, a state of being that we can experience here and now, if we have the courage to listen to the voice.
But courage is a rare thing, rarer than a comet or an honest politician. We prefer the safety of the herd, the comfort of the shared lie, the lie that matter is everything, that science is the only truth, the lie that makes us fear the daimon, fear it as one fears madness, because the voice of the daimon is the voice of truth and the truth, my friends, the truth is often unbearable, unbearable because it shows us that our life, our everyday life, is a farce, an empty and meaningless farce.
The daimon is what remains to us of the wild, from the time when man still spoke with the stars and with the animals, before the machine of civilization turned us into robots of flesh and bone. It is the silent cry of the soul that refuses to die of boredom, the soul that knows that the mystery is everywhere, in the smell of rain, in the flight of a bird, in the face of the other, in our own face if we dare to look in the mirror without fear.
Do not silence the daimon, listen to the voice, even if it scares you, even if it takes you along paths that are not on the emissary's map, paths of madness and beauty, paths that will make you free, that will make you whole, that will make you, finally, human. Because being human, my friends, is not paying bills and watching television, it is being whole, it is being total, it is being the voice of the daimon that sings in the middle of the silence.
Thank you, Bernardo Kastrup.
It is not the demon that the priests of Rome later foisted upon us, no, that creature with horns and a tail that serves to scare little boys and old women, no, the daimon is something else, it is our inner voice, our guide, the consciousness that knows more than we do, our essence, our destiny if we want to give it such a grand name.
We, creatures of clay and breath, wander this world like blind men feeling a wall, obsessed with the visible, with the palpable, with money in our pockets and food on the table, we forget the invisible, what whispers in our ear when we make silence, a rare thing these days, with so much noise from cars and televisions and the rush to get nowhere. The daimon is our link to the mystery, to the whole, to what cannot be explained in the science books that the emissary, that sad and unimaginative figure, writes with his dry pen and his iron logic.
The daimon knows that we are not the center of the universe, that we are just a point in a vast and complex web, the web of consciousness that Kastrup, with courage and stubbornness, insists on showing us, a web where everything is connected, the here and the beyond, the living and the dead, what was and what will be, if time is that straight line they taught us in school. The wisdom of the ancients, the wisdom that the Church of Rome, with its lust for power and its obsession with control, crushed and buried under the stones of cathedrals, that wisdom spoke of the daimon as our true self, the self that lives in totality, the self that knows that immortality is not a promise for after death, but a state of being, a state of being that we can experience here and now, if we have the courage to listen to the voice.
But courage is a rare thing, rarer than a comet or an honest politician. We prefer the safety of the herd, the comfort of the shared lie, the lie that matter is everything, that science is the only truth, the lie that makes us fear the daimon, fear it as one fears madness, because the voice of the daimon is the voice of truth and the truth, my friends, the truth is often unbearable, unbearable because it shows us that our life, our everyday life, is a farce, an empty and meaningless farce.
The daimon is what remains to us of the wild, from the time when man still spoke with the stars and with the animals, before the machine of civilization turned us into robots of flesh and bone. It is the silent cry of the soul that refuses to die of boredom, the soul that knows that the mystery is everywhere, in the smell of rain, in the flight of a bird, in the face of the other, in our own face if we dare to look in the mirror without fear.
Do not silence the daimon, listen to the voice, even if it scares you, even if it takes you along paths that are not on the emissary's map, paths of madness and beauty, paths that will make you free, that will make you whole, that will make you, finally, human. Because being human, my friends, is not paying bills and watching television, it is being whole, it is being total, it is being the voice of the daimon that sings in the middle of the silence.
Thank you, Bernardo Kastrup.
January 22, 2026
Rather than encouraging self-optimization, personal branding, or the pursuit of happiness, Kastrup argues that our lives are not fundamentally about ourselves at all. The book challenges one of the deepest assumptions of modern Western culture: that fulfillment comes from constructing and expressing an autonomous individual identity. Instead, he suggests that meaning arises when we align ourselves with something larger and deeper—a daimonic calling that precedes the ego.
What struck me most was how personal the book feels. Although Kastrup is known for his work on analytic idealism and the philosophy of mind, this is not primarily a philosophical treatise. It is partly memoir, partly spiritual reflection, and partly cultural critique. He draws on experiences from his own life to illustrate what it means to feel guided by a daimon—an impersonal but deeply intimate force that gives shape and direction to one’s existence.
The central theme that stayed with me is the idea of sacrifice. In modern culture, sacrifice is often viewed as a loss or a burden. Kastrup turns this notion upside down. He argues that a meaningful life requires surrendering the fantasy that life should revolve around personal desires and ambitions. Purpose emerges when we accept the role we are called to play, even when it demands hardship, uncertainty, or self-transcendence. This is not sacrifice in a moralistic sense, but in the sense of participating in a larger story.
I also appreciated how the book builds on ideas familiar from Kastrup’s earlier work while moving in a more existential direction. Readers expecting a rigorous defense of analytic idealism may be surprised. The metaphysics remains in the background, but the focus is on how a person should live if consciousness, archetypes, and meaning are woven into the fabric of reality. The result is a work that feels more human and emotionally resonant than some of his previous books.
At times, Kastrup’s contrast between the modern West and older ways of understanding the soul can feel somewhat idealized. I occasionally found myself wondering whether the divide is as sharp as he suggests. Yet even where I disagreed, the argument was thought-provoking. The book raises questions that are difficult to dismiss: What if our deepest purpose is discovered rather than invented? What if meaning comes not from self-expression but from service to something beyond the self?
Overall, I found The Daimon and the Soul of the West to be one of Kastrup’s most accessible and personally compelling books. It is less about proving a philosophical system and more about recovering a way of being in the world. Whether or not one accepts his metaphysical assumptions, the book offers a powerful meditation on identity, vocation, sacrifice, and the search for meaning in an age that often feels spiritually unmoored. By the final page, I was left with the sense that the most important question is not “What do I want from life?” but “What is life asking of me?” That shift in perspective is the book’s enduring gift.
What struck me most was how personal the book feels. Although Kastrup is known for his work on analytic idealism and the philosophy of mind, this is not primarily a philosophical treatise. It is partly memoir, partly spiritual reflection, and partly cultural critique. He draws on experiences from his own life to illustrate what it means to feel guided by a daimon—an impersonal but deeply intimate force that gives shape and direction to one’s existence.
The central theme that stayed with me is the idea of sacrifice. In modern culture, sacrifice is often viewed as a loss or a burden. Kastrup turns this notion upside down. He argues that a meaningful life requires surrendering the fantasy that life should revolve around personal desires and ambitions. Purpose emerges when we accept the role we are called to play, even when it demands hardship, uncertainty, or self-transcendence. This is not sacrifice in a moralistic sense, but in the sense of participating in a larger story.
I also appreciated how the book builds on ideas familiar from Kastrup’s earlier work while moving in a more existential direction. Readers expecting a rigorous defense of analytic idealism may be surprised. The metaphysics remains in the background, but the focus is on how a person should live if consciousness, archetypes, and meaning are woven into the fabric of reality. The result is a work that feels more human and emotionally resonant than some of his previous books.
At times, Kastrup’s contrast between the modern West and older ways of understanding the soul can feel somewhat idealized. I occasionally found myself wondering whether the divide is as sharp as he suggests. Yet even where I disagreed, the argument was thought-provoking. The book raises questions that are difficult to dismiss: What if our deepest purpose is discovered rather than invented? What if meaning comes not from self-expression but from service to something beyond the self?
Overall, I found The Daimon and the Soul of the West to be one of Kastrup’s most accessible and personally compelling books. It is less about proving a philosophical system and more about recovering a way of being in the world. Whether or not one accepts his metaphysical assumptions, the book offers a powerful meditation on identity, vocation, sacrifice, and the search for meaning in an age that often feels spiritually unmoored. By the final page, I was left with the sense that the most important question is not “What do I want from life?” but “What is life asking of me?” That shift in perspective is the book’s enduring gift.
April 8, 2026
I enjoyed the book because it talks about the personal experience of the author and relates it to the general patterns found in the western psyche. I am personally assuming that his relation to the daimon comes from the same source of Carl Jung's work (as he talks about it and is one of my favorite essays from Jung; "Development of Personality"), but perhaps he only makes the association from Socrates I can't know for sure.
Anyways, while I appreciate the work, I cannot directly relate my personal experience to some teleological, or goal, as a mark of collective human progression. Kastrup has his own contributions to philosophy that people either reject or accept. Rather my own experience demands subjectiveness and isolation, I want to keep all of my yearnings for meaning, understanding, and depth to myself without making any significant contribution to the world. All that matters to me is my own subjective experience of these ideas that a person with Jungian background comes to feel and know. All I want to express to the world are my yearnings for something greater and beyond ordinary life; as well as, my individual personality and the depth of understanding that comes with being highly sensitive.
If Kastrup had made more emphasis on individual personality and individuation, I probably would've been more excited about this work. But either way I find it valuable and lets me see from another perspective. In my opinion, it is just an average read to me because my feelings aren't really all that fired up.
Recently, I've been feeling a spark again to think deeper again and this book played a part in it (leading up to exploration in existentialism, Christianity, and Daoism).
Anyways, while I appreciate the work, I cannot directly relate my personal experience to some teleological, or goal, as a mark of collective human progression. Kastrup has his own contributions to philosophy that people either reject or accept. Rather my own experience demands subjectiveness and isolation, I want to keep all of my yearnings for meaning, understanding, and depth to myself without making any significant contribution to the world. All that matters to me is my own subjective experience of these ideas that a person with Jungian background comes to feel and know. All I want to express to the world are my yearnings for something greater and beyond ordinary life; as well as, my individual personality and the depth of understanding that comes with being highly sensitive.
If Kastrup had made more emphasis on individual personality and individuation, I probably would've been more excited about this work. But either way I find it valuable and lets me see from another perspective. In my opinion, it is just an average read to me because my feelings aren't really all that fired up.
Recently, I've been feeling a spark again to think deeper again and this book played a part in it (leading up to exploration in existentialism, Christianity, and Daoism).
September 21, 2025
Using the unfolding of his own life as a guide to the deeper currents at play in every human life, Kastrup shows how what appears to be “our” individual story is in fact part of a greater flow. That flow can bring depth and meaning — especially if we stop resisting — by learning to listen to the voice of our daimon (whether understood as inner voice, angelic guide, or one of the many cultural expressions of higher purpose).
A central thread here is the Western compulsion to explore, to question, to push beyond what is given. Kastrup treats this not as superior or inferior to Eastern traditions of stillness and surrender, but as complementary — different gifts brought to the unfolding of life.
This is both a deeply personal account and a philosophical meditation, inviting us to align with the daimon and discover a richer, more purposeful dimension of existence.
A central thread here is the Western compulsion to explore, to question, to push beyond what is given. Kastrup treats this not as superior or inferior to Eastern traditions of stillness and surrender, but as complementary — different gifts brought to the unfolding of life.
This is both a deeply personal account and a philosophical meditation, inviting us to align with the daimon and discover a richer, more purposeful dimension of existence.
January 27, 2026
“Our alienation from our own inborn nature and role has led to a tragic schism: a divorce between essence and narrative, being and action.”
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