physicalism


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phys·i·cal·ism

(fĭz′ĭ-kə-lĭz′əm)
n. Philosophy
The doctrine that all that exists is ultimately physical.

phys′i·cal·ist n.
phys′i·cal·is′tic adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

physicalism

(ˈfɪzɪkəˌlɪzəm)
n
(Philosophy) philosophy the doctrine that all phenomena can be described in terms of space and time and that all meaningful statements are either analytic, as in logic and mathematics, or can be reduced to empirically verifiable assertions. See also logical positivism, identity theory
ˈphysicalist n, adj
ˌphysicalˈistic adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

phys•i•cal•ism

(ˈfɪz ɪ kəˌlɪz əm)

n.
a doctrine associated with logical positivism and holding that every meaningful statement, other than the necessary statements of logic and mathematics, must refer directly or indirectly to observable properties of spatiotemporal things or events.
[1930–35; < German Physikalismus. See physical, -ism]
phys′i•cal•ist, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

physicalism

a doctrine, related to logical positivism, that all meaningful statements, with the exception of necessary statements of logic and mathematics, must relate either directly or indirectly to observable properties of the temporal. — physicalist, n., adj.
See also: Philosophy
-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.physicalism - (philosophy) the philosophical theory that matter is the only reality
dialectical materialism - the materialistic philosophy of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
philosophy - the rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics
philosophical doctrine, philosophical theory - a doctrine accepted by adherents to a philosophy
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in periodicals archive ?
Kelly and Adam Crabtree, he co-edited Beyond Physicalism (2015).
How Counterpart Theory Saves Nonreductive Physicalism, JUSTIN TIEHEN
(4) Strategic leaders can identify current and potential causal connections while developing strategies by using a framework based upon four modes of causal explanation--regularity and probability, counterfactuals, physicalism, and disposition--that outlines tools for discovering and for exploiting these connections.
That said, in his article "Survival and the Mind-Body Problem" in the Fall 2016 issue of JP, in the section entitled (ironically) "Offensive Ad Hominem Language", John asserts that I have been "whiny" about the fact that the authors of Beyond Physicalism did not cite any of my three books on the subject.
Finally, he discusses the basic concepts of reductionism, emergence, ontological physicalism, and methodological physicalism.
(It is similar to supervenience physicalism claim: any possible worlds identical from the vantage point of physical facts, will be also identical from the vantage point of psychological facts.)
This antagonism between physicalism and anti-physicalism has assumed different forms throughout the centuries, being a constant feature of Western thought, and remains alive in contemporary debates (7-8).
Philosophical naturalism (sometimes called physicalism or materialism) does not simply misunderstand the concept of God; it also fails to grasp the reality and significance of those dimensions of human experience that most obviously point beyond the limits of nature.
Malin attempts to resituate media physicalism by presenting evidence surrounding the importance of cultural, ethical, and disciplinary concerns when researching media's effects on emotion.
Of course--since functionalism opposes physicalist reduction--those versions are versions of non-reductive physicalism. As such, they face the challenge of the "exclusion problem" of mental causation, namely the problem that since in a physicalist framework it's physical properties that are responsible for the causal role of mental states, mental properties cannot be causally efficacious in the production of behavior and other mental states.
I won't rehearse Rayo's examples, but you can imagine how standard arguments for and against, say, physicalism (regimented as a 'just is' statement) might be massaged to fit this cost/benefit mold.

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