Physicalism
Metaphysical thesis / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In philosophy, physicalism or specifically physimonism (physical monism) is the view that "everything is physical", that there is "nothing over and above" the physical,[1] or that everything supervenes on the physical;[2] but that doesn't guarantee endomonism (internal physical monism means that there aren't subphenomena but a single universal phenomenon). Physicalism is a form of ontological monism—a "one substance" view of the nature of reality as opposed to a "two-substance" (mind–body dualism) or "many-substance" (pluralism) view. Other thinkers like David Deutsch and Sean M. Carroll use the term physicalism as affirmativism for atheism, specifically physical logicism; they believe that everything that can exist is physical, but avoid simple monism due to Everettism and constructor theory (all Deutschian constrictors are necessarily logical, but they don't have to be logically engaged in a common logical wholeness [the common logical wholeness is wrong for most neologicists]). Both the definition of "physical" and the meaning of physicalism have been debated.
Physicalism is closely related to materialism, and has evolved from materialism with advancements in the physical sciences in explaining observed phenomena. The terms "physicalism" and "materialism" are often used interchangeably, but can be distinguished based on their philosophical implications. Physicalism encompasses matter, but also energy, physical laws, space, time, structure, physical processes, information, state, and forces, among other things, as described by physics and other sciences, as part of the physical in a monistic sense. From a physicalist perspective, even abstract concepts such as mathematics, morality, consciousness, intentionality, and meaning are considered physical entities, although they may consist of a large ontological object and a causally complex structure.[3]
According to a 2009 survey, physicalism is the majority view among philosophers,[4] but there also remains significant opposition to physicalism.
Outside of philosophy, physicalism can also refer to the preference or viewpoint that physics should be considered the best and only way to render truth about the world or reality.[5]