Naturalism or Ontological Significance? Physicalism and Fundamental Mentality: a historical approach
Most physicalists believe that physicalism is a thesis that denies the existence of fundamental mentality either as a substance or as a property. Therefore, since most physicalists also endorse a posteriori physicalism, according to them, if the future physical theory posits fundamental mentality as...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Tabriz, Faculty of Literature and Forigen Languages
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Philosophical Investigations |
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| Online Access: | https://philosophy.tabrizu.ac.ir/article_14582_f00d8aa98d2ed5ecc1f5fd46f11bd75a.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797703943949647872 |
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| author | Hamed Bikaraan-Behesht |
| author_facet | Hamed Bikaraan-Behesht |
| author_sort | Hamed Bikaraan-Behesht |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Most physicalists believe that physicalism is a thesis that denies the existence of fundamental mentality either as a substance or as a property. Therefore, since most physicalists also endorse a posteriori physicalism, according to them, if the future physical theory posits fundamental mentality as a fundamental physical concept, then physicalism will be falsified. In contrast, there are those who believe that the core idea of physicalism is an ontological deference to science (especially physics); the idea that is usually called scientism and is closely related to methodological naturalism. According to them, if physicists posit fundamental mentality as an integral part of the future fundamental physical theory, physicalism will not be falsified, and physicalists may (or should) accept fundamental mentality as a genuine physical concept. In this paper, I argue that there is some historical evidence in support of the latter understanding of physicalism. First, I give some historical evidence that seems to suggest that the historical origin of physicalism is the failure of those explanations – or pseudo-explanations – that have appealed to supernatural non-physical entities. Second, I show that in some of the initial reflections on materialism – the predecessor of physicalism – in the first half of the twentieth century, philosophers understood materialism in terms of the very historical origin. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T05:13:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b2e467004de841abbd056081e0b891bc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2251-7960 2423-4419 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T05:13:00Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | University of Tabriz, Faculty of Literature and Forigen Languages |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Philosophical Investigations |
| spelling | doaj.art-b2e467004de841abbd056081e0b891bc2023-09-03T08:27:35ZengUniversity of Tabriz, Faculty of Literature and Forigen LanguagesJournal of Philosophical Investigations2251-79602423-44192022-04-01163815418510.22034/jpiut.2022.47592.294814582Naturalism or Ontological Significance? Physicalism and Fundamental Mentality: a historical approachHamed Bikaraan-Behesht0Assistant Professor of Theory-Oriented STI Studies Department, National Research Institute for Science Policy (NRISP), Tehran, Iran.Most physicalists believe that physicalism is a thesis that denies the existence of fundamental mentality either as a substance or as a property. Therefore, since most physicalists also endorse a posteriori physicalism, according to them, if the future physical theory posits fundamental mentality as a fundamental physical concept, then physicalism will be falsified. In contrast, there are those who believe that the core idea of physicalism is an ontological deference to science (especially physics); the idea that is usually called scientism and is closely related to methodological naturalism. According to them, if physicists posit fundamental mentality as an integral part of the future fundamental physical theory, physicalism will not be falsified, and physicalists may (or should) accept fundamental mentality as a genuine physical concept. In this paper, I argue that there is some historical evidence in support of the latter understanding of physicalism. First, I give some historical evidence that seems to suggest that the historical origin of physicalism is the failure of those explanations – or pseudo-explanations – that have appealed to supernatural non-physical entities. Second, I show that in some of the initial reflections on materialism – the predecessor of physicalism – in the first half of the twentieth century, philosophers understood materialism in terms of the very historical origin.https://philosophy.tabrizu.ac.ir/article_14582_f00d8aa98d2ed5ecc1f5fd46f11bd75a.pdfphysicalismmethodological naturalismfundamental mentalitypseudo-explanansgod-of-the-gaps |
| spellingShingle | Hamed Bikaraan-Behesht Naturalism or Ontological Significance? Physicalism and Fundamental Mentality: a historical approach Journal of Philosophical Investigations physicalism methodological naturalism fundamental mentality pseudo-explanans god-of-the-gaps |
| title | Naturalism or Ontological Significance? Physicalism and Fundamental Mentality: a historical approach |
| title_full | Naturalism or Ontological Significance? Physicalism and Fundamental Mentality: a historical approach |
| title_fullStr | Naturalism or Ontological Significance? Physicalism and Fundamental Mentality: a historical approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Naturalism or Ontological Significance? Physicalism and Fundamental Mentality: a historical approach |
| title_short | Naturalism or Ontological Significance? Physicalism and Fundamental Mentality: a historical approach |
| title_sort | naturalism or ontological significance physicalism and fundamental mentality a historical approach |
| topic | physicalism methodological naturalism fundamental mentality pseudo-explanans god-of-the-gaps |
| url | https://philosophy.tabrizu.ac.ir/article_14582_f00d8aa98d2ed5ecc1f5fd46f11bd75a.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hamedbikaraanbehesht naturalismorontologicalsignificancephysicalismandfundamentalmentalityahistoricalapproach |