In Santiago Cognition Theory, the brain is not necessary for mind to exist. Mind is the process of cognition, the process of life itself. Most of the universe is dead. We are but whirlpools in a river of ever-flowing water. We are not stuff that abides, but patterns that perpetuate themselves.
Epistemology is essential in the description of natural phenomena.
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning. We are separate from nature. Units have no meaning in a chaotic system and, therefore, do not exist. There had always been reactions against Cartesian-Newtonian thought in segments of the population, of course, but most were marginalized populations with little or no influence. From Blake to Goethe to Kant, all fervently believed in the extremely ancient worldview of the planet and its creatures as a holistic living system.