Materialism

Definition of Materialism

Materialism is a set of ideas or beliefs that holds that reality is made only of the physical. When they say everything exists at the level of the physical, they mean that everything exists at the level of atoms. For example, sunlight and oxygen are not directly pickable up in the same way a chair or a pen is, but they still exist physically at the molecular level.

How it works

If this is so, this means the Universe and everything in it is like a giant clock mechanism with numerous tiny physical parts working as designed, turning in the way that they are intended under the laws of cause and effect. This includes ourselves; each person is only one tiny wheel or cog turning without choice under the laws of cause and effect- just like any other physical object.

Impact on the mind-body problem

This means if materialists are correct, there is no mind-body problem, as for them, the mind does not actually exist. We are only a brain and a body. The relationship between the brain and the body is explained easily by the law of cause and effect, which, as we said, controls all physical things. The danger for us is if we lose our minds, we risk losing all those things that make us human, such as our sense of self, consciousness, the ability to reason, and the ability to choose. In short, we lose our humanity.

The Consciousness Objection

A possible reply to Materialism and its implied loss of humanity is: Consider any sophisticated gadget, such as the iPhone 17 Pro. A very complicated physical machine capable of doing amazing things, but at any time, despite its complex technology, ask yourself if it has ever shown any capacity or signs of being conscious in the way all humans feel they are and recognize in other people? The answer is ‘no, ’ of course. So perhaps only a physical or material description of ourselves as human beings is not enough to capture what actually makes us human.