Materialism, also called physicalism, in philosophy, the view that all facts (including facts about the human mind and will and the course of human history) are causally dependent upon physical processes, or even reducible to them.
Mechanical materialism is the theory that the world consists entirely of hard, massy material objects, which, though perhaps imperceptibly small, are otherwise like such things as stones. (A slight modification is to allow the void—or empty space—to exist also in its own right.) These objects interact in the sort of way that stones do: by impact and possibly also by gravitational attraction. The theory denies that immaterial or apparently immaterial things (such as minds) exist or else explains them away as being material things or motions of material things.
And similarly, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy –
Physicalism is the thesis that everything is physical, or as contemporary philosophers sometimes put it, that everything supervenes on the physical. The thesis is usually intended as a metaphysical thesis, parallel to the thesis attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher Thales, that everything is water, or the idealism of the 18th Century philosopher Berkeley, that everything is mental. The general idea is that the nature of the actual world (i.e. the universe and everything in it) conforms to a certain condition, the condition of being physical. Of course, physicalists don't deny that the world might contain many items that at first glance don't seem physical — items of a biological, or psychological, or moral, or social nature. But they insist nevertheless that at the end of the day such items are either physical or supervene on the physical.
Materialism reduces the real down to only that which is material, or physical and thereby excludes any reality to that which is non-material. By its nature, materialism must exclude the notions of 1) an immortal, immaterial soul in man and life after death, 2) immaterial creatures, such as angels and 3) the supreme immaterial being in God. Logically, if materialism is true, then an immaterial God cannot exist, and the major world religions such as Islam, Christianity and Judaism are all false. Furthermore, if materialism is true, man does not have an immortal soul and life after death is not real, and therefore heaven and hell do not exist.
Materialism is also essential to atheism. For if materialism is true then atheism may be true. But if materialism is false then an immaterial God may exist, then atheism may be false and monotheism may be true. Some of the consequences of the materialist worldview are enormous. If materialism it true, then the major world religions are at best only subjective, and false interpretations of reality and have no objective, nor binding claim over men. If, however, materialism is false, and then because truth is one, then there may be one religion which is objective and does make a binding claim on men for their adherence.
An Argument to Expose the Error of Materialism.
Materialism says all of reality is physical or stated in another way is material. For example, a tree is a physical thing, or in accord with the philosophy of materialism is material, and can be seen, touched, tasted, smelt and located relative to other physical things. Other examples such as a cow, a house, a bridge and many other physical things can be known to exist through sense knowledge. From the materialist principle that all of reality is material, it follows that everything that exists can be known through sense knowledge, such as sight, taste touch, smell and hearing.
Therefore, because the fundamental principle of materialism states all of reality is material, then materialism, which is a part of reality, itself must also be material and not immaterial. Hence the philosophy of materialism is a material thing that can be known through sense knowledge, such as sight, taste touch, smell and hearing. Hence materialism, like the tree, bridge, or house, may be sensed and thereby located relative to other material things. To sense materialism as this material thing is to sense this particular material thing, (or a set of material things) which is identical with the fundamental principle of the philosophy of materialism. This particular material thing, (or a set of material things), which is in accord with the philosophy of materialism accounts for all of reality is then either –
1) Outside the mind - If so, then the material thing(s) which is itself materialism, does not account for the mind. Hence the principle of materialism which says all things are material, must exclude the mind. Hence if the material thing, which is itself materialism is only outside the mind, then the mind itself is not included in the principle of materialism. Hence if materialism is only outside the mind, then materialism is false, for materialism does not account for the mind, which is not subject to the principle, or the physical thing, which is materialism.
2) Inside the mind - Similar to the above argument. If materialism is only the human mind, then materialism is not anything other than the human mind. Hence if materialism is only the human mind, then everything outside the mind is not accounted for by materialism. Hence materialism is false.
3) Outside and inside the mind. – If the material thing, which is materialism is both outside and inside the mind, then materialism is then either –
3a) Identical with the human mind and all other things outside the mind.
Then materialism is identical with all things. Hence materialism as a principle of the philosophy is really all things which are materialism. But all things are not the principle of materialism, for all things would be both themselves (tree, and bridge) and materialism. But as the tree and bridge and all other things are things unto themselves (the tree is the tree), then all things are not of themselves materialism. Hence all things are not materialism. Hence materialism is false.
3b) Really distinct from the human mind and really distinct from all other things outside the mind.
Then materialism is not itself the mind, nor itself any of all things, but something(s) material other than both the human mind and all things. Hence materialism is a material thing(s) other than all things. Such a material things, which is other than all things, cannot be, for a material thing is always within the group of all things. Hence if materialism is not the human mind, nor any of all other things, then materialism is false. Materialism is not the mind nor all things. Hence materialism is false.
3c) Identical with the human mind, but really distinct from all other things.
Then materialism is the human mind. But the human mind according to materialism is an organic body (the brain) and not materialism. Hence materialism is self-contradictory if it asserts materialism is both identical to the human mind, and the human mind is an organ, which is itself not materialism. Hence materialism is false.
3d) Really distinct from the human mind, but identical to all other things.
Materialism is all things, exclusive of the material human mind, which is the brain. Such a conclusion is self-evidently false, for if materialism is all things, then all things are not themselves but are all materialism. For example, the tree and rock are not tree and rock, but materialism. Hence materialism is false.
Conclusion
As points, 1 to 3 all arrives at the falsity of materialism and points 1 to 3 represent the full extent of the options available to determine what materialism is then materialism is always false.
The above argument may be restated more simply as follows.
Materialism states all things that exist are material.
Hence, because materialism exists, then materialism is itself a material thing(s).
But as no material thing is of itself materialism, then materialism is of itself not a material thing.
Hence the claim of materialism that all things that exist are material is a self-refuting proposition.
For materialism itself is not material, as is implied within its own principle.
Hence materialism is false.
Some of the consequences of the falsity of materialism are –
Man may have an Immortal Soul - Not all things are material. Hence men may have an immortal soul, such as claimed by the major monotheistic religions of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. If man does have an immortal soul, then man has a value far beyond that posited by materialism, for man will continue exist forever, contrary to the conclusion of materialism that reduces man’s existence to a temporal existence of the living, material, human body.
A Fundamental Error Embraced by the Intellectual Elites - The Academy that embraces the philosophy of materialism is in error. Hence the academy which embraces the error of materialism should be treated with suspicion on matters that relate to the false conclusion that man is only a material thing, rather than a composite of body and soul.
Atheism is false - If materialism is false, then atheism is false. For atheism only may be true if materialism is true. For if materialism is true, then there are no spirits, and because God is a spirit, then God does not exist.
An atheist may object and say the above statement ignores many other forms of theism, including some forms that teach God has a body, as the Mormons do. But the above statement concerning the nature of the one God which is a spirit is the only real possibility that can be true. As all other forms of theism are false and only monotheism is possibly true (actually monotheism is true), then if materialism is true, then monotheism is false. And consequently, as all other forms of theism are also false, then atheism is then true.
Materialist Based Social Philosophies May all be Debunked - All social philosophies such as communism, Nazism and Fascism are all open to being falsified, for they are all at least in part based upon a materialist understanding of the world and man.
Materialist Based Economic Philosophies May all be Debunked - All economic theories that reduce man to a servant of the economy are open to being falsified. For because materialism is false, man may have an immortal, non-material soul. The reality of the immortal soul in man infers the economy exists for man to attain another ultimate end, other than the economy.
The Materialist Notion of the Human Mind may be Debunked - Materialism reduces the knowledge of all things down to sense knowledge. For sense knowledge knows material things as this particular thing as sensed. As materialism is false then a correct understanding of man may include the possibility that all things may be known in a way other than only sense knowledge. Such a possibility corresponds well with the Judeo-Christian anthropology of man as a composite of body and soul, where the soul has a power, called the intellect. Whereby the intellect acts to know natures of things through an act of abstraction, which is to know things in a manner other than that had by sense knowledge (above the material).
All Other Ism’s Need Not be Material as Required by Materialism - Because materialism is not itself a material thing, then many other isms need not be material things either. For according to materialism, only things that exist are material, hence all isms are also material things. Hence according to materialism, capitalism, deism, Protestantism, secularism, scientism and all other isms are material things that can be sensed. Nevertheless, because materialism is itself not material, we need not be bound to the absurdity of all the other isms also being material. So, capitalism, deism, Protestantism, secularism, scientism and all other isms are not material things, but more likely, abstract and therefore non-material systems of belief.
Mathematics Need Not be Material as Required by Materialism - Because materialism is false, mathematics need not be a material thing. For example, numbers need not be material, but may be non-material forms that reside in the human mind and are expressed according to convention within equations. For if materialism is true, then all numbers are material things. So, the number 3 then becomes a material thing, which is itself 3. The problematic nature of the materialist claim is resolved by noting 3 is not material, but abstract. The abstract nature of number is more acceptable by noting that when we speak of material things in association with numbers, we know the material things are material and the numbers are abstract. For example, 3 apples, indicates a set of material apples, along with the abstract notion of 3. Hence 3 apples is a combination of a set of material apples, which are then abstracted by the human intellect and combined in the intellect which makes a judgement to combine 3 with apples, for the man to then say ‘3 apples’.
The problematic nature of materialism is highlighted when we note ‘3 apples’ according to materialism means ‘3’ and ‘apples’ are both material things. Yet everyone knows from experience that only each individual apple exists in a set of apples as material things. For nobody has ever observed through sense experience the existence of the material number 3. The immediately problematic nature of materialism, which is experientially shown to be a false philosophical construct made against common sense experience, is overcome by 1) noting the above falsification of the materialist philosophy and 2) also noting materialism is always falsified whenever men use numbers in common speech.
The Problem of the Universal May be Resolved Properly - Because materialism is false, the problem of the universal had in mind may be resolved by noting the human intellect is not a sense as materialism requires, but a power of the soul to know natures in the abstract. For example, man knows tree, whereby the individual notes of the size, age, colour and other material properties of the tree are removed when the tree is known by the intellect. The abstract knowledge of tree had in mind then enables the man to consequently speak the word ‘tree’ in the universal, even though the tree always exists outside the mind in the concrete singular.
Other Errors of Materialism’s Explanation of Intellective Knowledge Exposed - The falsity of materialism also leads us to observe the way in which materialism handles intellective knowledge. If according to materialism, all of reality is composed of material things, then knowledge itself must also be a material thing and consequently the human intellect is another sense. Therefore, according to materialism, just as touch feels heat, and the hand becomes hot through touching a hot surface, then similarly the human mind must also react in a way like that of touch, to react to heat, when heat is known in the mind. If the materialist philosophy posits the human intellect is another sense, the question which must be asked is just how does the human mind act when it knows something that is sensed by taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight? Does the mind become hot when the mind knows heat, like the hand becomes hot through the sense of touch? If so, what evidence is there for this claim, other than the wild musings of materialist philosophers?
Likewise, the materialist understanding of the human mind may also be compared to the other senses and similar questions may also be asked concerning the sense reaction of the human mind. For if the eye in some physical way becomes red, when red is seen, does the mind also become red in some physical way when the mind understands red? If so, what evidence is there for this? Even if there is evidence for the mind becoming red, what evidence is there that the mind becoming red is actually a correct explanation of what the mind is doing, when the problem of the universal had in mind remains unexplained?
And if there is no evidence for the mind becoming red when the mind knows red, like the eye sees red, why then buy into the materialist philosophy that requires the mind to only be physical.
The Falsity of Materialism Highlights the Problematic Nature of the Enlightenment Philosophy of Knowledge - John Locke proposed a philosophy of knowledge that was empirical based. Locke thereby reduced the human intellect down to that of just another sense. By doing so, Locke reduced man to a material thing, which is consistent to the materialist understanding of reality. As materialism is false, along with the false presentation of the human intellect as another sense, then so too John Locke’s philosophy of the human intellect as another sense is also false.
The falsity of John Locke’s Empiricism based philosophy of the human intellect as only another sense, shows another aspect of the Enlightenment to be false.
Materialism is false and Secularism is also false. Because materialism is false, then the worldview that says only life in this universe is the fulness of reality for men is also false. For only if the universe in its entirety is accounted for through only material things, or only material causes, it necessarily follows that man’s life with his material body had prior to death is the total sum of the human experience. For according to secularism, man only ever has the here and now of his own life in his own body, without any reference to life after death, heaven, or hell, or God as a being who exists beyond the material universe.
But as materialism is false, then man’s life and/or all of reality is not accounted for only through material causes. Then secularism, which is based upon the false philosophy of materialism is also probably false. For secularism denies 1) man has a spiritual soul, 2) the existence of created spirits and 3) the existence of God as the prime being, who is the only uncreated, pure spirit. As secularism necessarily denies any possibility of a spiritual realm, based upon a materialist understanding of the universe, then because materialism is false, it follows that secularism is probably also false.
Based upon arguments for the existence of the spirituality of the human soul, the existence of God and divine revelation that teaches the existence of angels as created spirits, evidence is provided to prove secularism is false. Consequently, because atheism is also false, then atheistic secular humanism is also false.
JM
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