Johannes Jacobus Poortman (April 26, 1896 in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

– December 21, 1970 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

), studied philosophy and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

at Groningen University under

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

Gerardus Heymans. In 1919 he received his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

; many years later he would also earn a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

He was also a

theosophist Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

Biography

Poortman studied at the universities of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

, the Sorbonne in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

and at

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. From 1932 to 1938 he was member of the Council of the Dutch Society for Psychical Research. From 1958 to 1966 he was a

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of L ...

. After he retired his chair was successively occupied by Prof. Dubbink, Prof. van Vledder and Prof. Gerding. Poortman was the maker of the Repertory of Dutch philosophers,

Repertorium der Nederlandse Wijsbegeerte ''Repertorium der Nederlandse Wijsbegeerte'' is one of the major works of Professor Dr. Johannes Jacobus Poortman. This is a four-volume inventory of all publications in the Netherlands or in the Dutch language or by Dutch philosophers on philoso ...

, which can be consulted on line at the site of the Leiden University. He formulated the idea of a ''hylic pluralism'' (in Dutch ''hylisch pluralisme'') of the plurality of matter, a model of the universe in which science and metaphysics are no longer contradictory. This vision was explained in his four volume work, ''Vehicles of Consciousness''.

Poortmans categories

Poortman distinguished six different

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of consci ...

views of the world, which he named from ''Alpha'' to ''Zeta''. # ''Alpha'':

monistic Monism attributes oneness or singleness (Greek: μόνος) to a concept e.g., existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished: * Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., i ...

materialism Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical material ...

, the view that only one kind of stuff, i.e.

matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic par ...

, ultimately exists in this

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. A ...

. # ''Beta'': the view that only

exists, but that there are different kinds of matter (hylic pluralism), specifically that

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

and other spiritual beings are created of a ''finer'' kind of matter, not visible to our scientific instruments. # ''Gamma'': that only matter exists, with the exception of one single entity which is not material. This entity may be

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part ...

, etc. This is the view held by Poortman himself. # ''Delta'': the view that two separate kinds of material and one kind of spiritual, immaterial entity exists, for example the early Christian and

Gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

belief that man was made of

body Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anima ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

and spirit, where the first two are different forms of matter and the spirit is immaterial. #''Epsilon'': a view in which matter and mind are totally separate things. This view was for example held by

René Descartes René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Mathe ...

in his ''

cogito ergo sum The Latin , usually translated into English as "I think, therefore I am", is the " first principle" of René Descartes's philosophy. He originally published it in French as , in his 1637 ''Discourse on the Method'', so as to reach a wider audien ...

'' statement, see mind dualism. #''Zeta'': monistic idealism or illusionism, where matter is seen as some kind of

emanation Emanation may refer to: *Emanation (chemistry), a dated name for the chemical element radon *Emanation From Below, a concept in Slavic religion *Emanation in the Eastern Orthodox Church, a belief found in Neoplatonism * Emanation of the state, a leg ...

of God or another spiritual being. Especially this classification applies to the

of the

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or ''dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global po ...

References

* J. J. Poortman: ''Vehicles of Consciousness. The Concept of Hylic Pluralism (Ochema)'', vol I–IV, The Theosophical Society in Netherlands, 1978

External links

* http://users.belgacom.net/gc681999/OpenParadigma.htm * http://ethesis.net/poortman/poortman.htm (

Christian Vandekerkhove Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Poortman, Johannes Jacobus 1896 births 1970 deaths University of Paris alumni Writers from Rotterdam Parapsychologists Academic staff of Leiden University 20th-century Dutch philosophers Dutch expatriates in Germany Dutch expatriates in Switzerland Dutch expatriates in France Dutch expatriates in Austria