Chapter 10 Materialism

Materialism and Idealism Everything, Descartes reasoned: Could be doubted except the fact that he was thinking It may seem sheer madness to try to deny the physical reality of the world Idealist’s argument © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Materialism and Science; Dualism and the Mind–Body Problem Materialism is the metaphysical system supporting and supported by both: Common sense and science The problem of interaction Materialism & idealism claim to remove the mind–body problem by denying: One of the two items that make up the duality © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Materialism and Religious Belief Materialism is also perceived as a threat to religious belief The idealist also finds materialism: Strangely alien to our most immediate and direct experience of the world Recent scientific developments softened the clash between idealists & materialists © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ancient Materialism: Atomism The most persistent form of materialism is known as atomism Atomism is one of the earliest philosophical and scientific theories For materialists, a human being is nothing more than a complex material machine © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Atomism and Freedom The implications of materialism for religion and for the question of human freedom Epicurus & Lucretius argue for: An element of human freedom, choice, spontaneity, & accident in the world generally Trying to reconcile materialistic atomism with human freedom © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Atomism and Mental Phenomena How to explain mental phenomena, especially how we come to have ideas of: Things and to think about them and describe them linguistically Epicurus also anticipates the modern mind–body problem © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Epicurus: First Principle of Materialism The universe consists of material bodies and void The universe as a whole is infinite The atoms move without interruption through all time There is nothing to prevent believing that the creation of idols is as swift as thought © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Materialism and the New Science The Muslims finally decided that it was unwise to try to mix religion with the: Newly discovered Greek & Roman philosophy and science and so rejected it in the end Gassendi was one of those who tried to: Continue the reconciliation of Greek thought with Judeo-Christian traditions © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reconciling Materialism and Religion Gassendi’s attempt to reconcile materialism with Christian faith is: Interesting, since materialism has historically been used to undercut the claims of: Those who believe in an immaterial God Our views of physical reality have been shaped by the breakthroughs in physics © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.