Materialism and Its Proponents

Materialism

• Reality is made up of matter, the only thing we can perceive with our senses
• All things are composed of material and phenomena are the result of material interactions
• Our mind is part of our physical body and functions like a machine
• Sense perception is the only reliable source of knowledge
• Famous proponents of materialism include Democritus and Thomas Hobbes

Democritus

• Believed everything is made of matter
• He coined the term "atom" to describe the smallest bit of material

Thomas Hobbes

• Believed that the material world is the only thing that exists
• Spirit and soul are meaningless concepts
• Consciousness is a product of the brain's processes
• Reductionism is the idea that complex concepts can be explained by breaking them down into simpler ones
• Sensations are motions that travel to the brain
• However, Hobbes rejected the idea that consciousness could be fully explained by physical processes

Eastern Materialism

• Deductive reasoning is unreliable because it uses general statements to reach conclusions
• Inductive generalizations are unreliable
• Only what we can perceive with our senses is real

Objections to Materialism

• How can we explain consciousness, including thinking, wishing, dreaming, loving, and hating?
• While brain states are physical, conscious experiences are not
• Modern science has made discoveries that challenge the traditional materialist view of matter

Change in Materialism

• Matter is not solid and indivisible, but made up of subatomic particles that display properties similar to waves of energy and probability

Idealism

• Reality is composed of minds and ideas, not matter
• Everything in the universe depends on the mind
• Reality is ultimately nonmaterial
• The phrase “To be is to be perceived” means that our perceptions create reality

Anthropomorphism

• The process of describing something in human terms, when it is not human

Subjective Idealism

• Reality is dependent on your own mind
• Objections to this idea include that it eliminates the possibility of error in our perceptions
• It also raises questions about the difference between our perception of a thing and the thing itself

Objective Idealism

• Reality is dependent on God’s mind
• Objections to this idea include the problem of how to know God’s mind and whether or not God is intelligible
• It also raises questions about what happens if you don't believe in God
• This viewpoint accounts for the fact that we don’t have complete control over our experiences

Sartre

• Argued that people are free and responsible for their choices
• Our ability to conceive of what is not allows us to plan for the future
• This freedom often brings anguish
• We often act in "bad faith" to deceive ourselves

De Beauvoir

• Focused on bringing about freedom for women
• She argued that social influences restrict women's freedom

Determinism

• Human actions are completely determined by prior events
• We do not have the ability to choose freely because everything is determined by previous conditions, laws of nature, and events
• Our wants are products of the laws of nature, so we do not act freely

Compatibilism

• A person is free if they are not restricted by external forces
• Redefines the concept of freedom to mean the absence of external restraints
• While people’s desires and interests may be influenced by factors like heredity and upbringing, they are still capable of acting freely and being morally responsible for their actions

Kant

• We can view ourselves as part of the natural world (determined) or as conscious agents (free)
• He believed that we are both determined and free

Steven Pinker

• We should think of ourselves as free when considering morality and as deterministic machines when considering science

Human Nature

• Examines what it means to be human, what makes us different from all other species on Earth
• It asks if humans have a spiritual aspect or are purely material, as well as if humans are naturally selfish and aggressive or cooperative and benevolent

Psychological Egoism

• Human beings are motivated solely by self-interest
• All actions are ultimately self-serving
• The desire to feel good or avoid guilt may be hidden motives for helping others

Thomas Hobbes

• Believed that humans are motivated by self-interest
• Humans are biological machines that seek power

Sigmund Freud

• Believed that human are naturally aggressive and cruel

Mark Mercer

• Humans act to benefit themselves
• We must understand a person's motives in order to understand their actions

Human Motivation

• There is debate about what drives humans – is it desire, self-interest or perhaps self-gratification?
• Questions if true kindness exists or if everyone is selfish

Implications of Psychological Egoism

• People are inherently selfish and motivated by their own benefit

The Mind as a Complex System

• Inputs (sight, sound, taste, smell) are processed by the mind to produce outputs (external behaviors)
• Our experiences and perceptions of the same thing can differ

Alan Turing

• Developed the “Turing Test” - a test for machine intelligence where a person has to determine whether they are communicating with a human or a computer
• If the computer passes the test, it is considered to have a mind

John Searle’s Contradiction

• Humans have consciousness, which computers lack
• Searle argued that a computer can process information without understanding it, unlike a human who understands the meaning of what they are processing

The Ontological Argument for God’s Existence

• God’s existence can be deduced from the mere idea of God

Anselm

• God is “that than which nothing greater can be conceived”
• God must exist in reality, not just in our minds
• A God that exists in reality is greater than a God that only exists in our minds

Objections to the Ontological Argument

• Kant: Existence is not a predicate, and cannot be used to define a thing
• Gauinilo: The argument can be used to prove the existence of anything by defining it as “the x than which nothing greater can be conceived”
• The argument only works for an infinitely perfect being (God)
• It falsely assumes that existence in reality is greater than existence in the mind

The Cosmological Argument for God’s Existence

• Everything that moves must have a first mover, which is God

Aquinas

• Anything moving must have been moved by something else
• There must be a “first mover” that is responsible for all motion in the universe

Rowe

• Challenged the theistic view that God permits suffering in order to achieve a greater good
• Argues that some evil, such as the suffering of innocent children, cannot be justified by a greater good

Theistic Response to the Problem of Evil

• Evil is simply the absence of good
• God only produces good, so he is not responsible for the absence of goodness (evil)
• God permits suffering because of free will

Objections to Augustine

• Augustine’s argument dodges the issue of real suffering
• People often experience suffering that is not a simple absence of goodness

Critics of the “Free Will Defense”

• It fails to distinguish between natural evil and moral evil
• Moral evils are intentionally caused by human actions, while natural evils are caused by natural processes

John Hick

• Evil is necessary for the development of responsible agency
• In a world without pain and suffering, people would not have the opportunity to develop virtue

Video

• The suffering caused by natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis raises questions about whether or not God exists
• Some people believe that the disasters are divine retribution, while others believe that they prove God does not exist
• God cannot be the cause of evil, because evil is the absence of good – God only produces good
• God allows evil to bring about a greater good, such as free will
• God allows the world to unfold naturally, including both good and bad events

Explore the key concepts of materialism as outlined by thinkers like Democritus and Thomas Hobbes. This quiz delves into how reality is perceived through matter, the implications for consciousness, and the philosophical significance of material interactions. Test your understanding of these foundational ideas in philosophy.