Eros as Time's Embrace

Time is the erotic unfolding and re-folding of the universe. This paper presents a metaphysical framework grounded in evolutionary panpsychism and process-relational philosophy that addresses fundamental questions in consciousness studies through a novel synthesis of Whiteheadian metaphysics, Hunt and Schooler’s General Resonance Theory, and electromagnetic field approaches to consciousness. Rather than treating consciousness as an emergent byproduct of material complexity or as a reflection of pre-existing perfection, we propose that consciousness manifests through what we term eros—not as a kind of cosmic desire per se but as the fundamental attractive quality inherent in every constituent of reality, from quantum events to complex conscious beings. Drawing on contemporary developments in process thought, resonance-based theories of consciousness, and electromagnetic field theories of mind, this framework outlines a vision of a participatory cosmos where consciousness, temporality, and materiality co-emerge through relational dynamics driven by the fundamental attractive-repulsive polarity present in all actual entities. This approach contrasts with both reductionist materialism and top-down cosmopsychist models by proposing a metaphysics of immanent becoming that locates the source of cosmic creativity, including biological evolution, in the basic constituents of reality rather than in either mechanistic emergence or transcendent consciousness. In this new “physics of love” temporal flow represents the rhythm through which fundamental attractive forces actualize themselves in novel forms, electromagnetic resonance provides the architecture of life and relational consciousness, and the universe evolves toward increasingly rich forms of consciousness.