Bernardo Kastrup

Bernardo Kastrup (born 21 October 1974) is a Dutch philosopher and computer engineer whose work centres on consciousness studies and analytic idealism, a form of metaphysical idealism developed within the analytic tradition. He questions physicalism and argues that consciousness lies at the foundation of reality. Kastrup serves as executive director of the Essentia Foundation, a Dutch charity in the field of consciousness studies and metaphysics, and is the founder and CEO of the AI systems company Euclyd. He completed his undergraduate studies in electronic engineering at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1997. In 2001, he earned a PhD in computer engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) and reconfigurable computing. In 2019, he obtained a second PhD in philosophy from Radboud University Nijmegen, with a dissertation centered on ontology and philosophy of mind, titled Analytic Idealism: A consciousness-only ontology. As a scientist and computer engineer, Kastrup works in fields such as AI and information security, having held positions at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the Philips Research Laboratories, and, as a product strategist and marketing director, at ASML Holding. He co-founded Silicon Hive, a parallel processor company acquired by Intel in 2011, and the AI systems company Euclyd B.V. In the field of philosophical investigation and dissemination, Kastrup is the executive director of the Essentia Foundation, a Dutch nonprofit that publishes and curates work on metaphysics from an idealist perspective. He has published in both academic and popular venues, including Scientific American.