physicalism

Question 1

Materialism

Answer 1

Everything is matter.

Question 2

Physicalism

Answer 2

Everything is physical (includes forces, energy, fields).

Question 3

Interpretation Question

Answer 3

What does ‘everything is physical’ mean?

Question 4

Condition Question

Answer 4

What counts as physical? (atoms, energy, fields, forces).

Question 5

Completeness Question

Answer 5

How does everything else (mind, social stuff, math) relate to the physical?

Question 6

Truth Question

Answer 6

Is it true? (physicalism vs dualism).

Question 7

Supervenience Physicalism

Answer 7

Everything depends on the physical, like global properties of a dot-matrix picture depend on dots.

Question 8

Necessity Physicalism

Answer 8

Every property is necessitated by physical properties.

Question 9

token Physicalism

Answer 9

: every particular thing is physical.

Question 10

Ex: My headache = my neurons firing.

Question 11

Type Physicalism

Answer 11

every property is physical.

Question 12

Ex: Pain = C-fiber firing.

Question 13

Objection: Multiple realizability (aliens/AI could feel pain without C-fibers).

Question 14

Realization Physicalism

Answer 14

Mental properties are realized by physical properties.

Question 15

Grounding Physicalism

Answer 15

Non-physical stuff exists in virtue of the physical.

Question 16

Fundamentality Physicalism

Answer 16

At the fundamental level, only physical properties exist.

Question 17

Reductive Physicalism

Answer 17

Mental states reduce to physical states.

Question 18

Non-reductive Physicalism

Answer 18

Mental states depend on physical but not reducible.

Question 19

A priori Physicalism

Answer 19

Knowable by reason alone.

Question 20

A posteriori Physicalism

Answer 20

True, but only knowable through science.

Question 21

Qualia

Answer 21

Subjective experiences of perception.

Question 22

Mary’s Room

Answer 22

A thought experiment about a scientist who knows all physical facts about color vision but has never seen color.

Question 23

Ability Hypothesis

Answer 23

Mary doesn’t gain new facts, just new abilities (knows-how, not knows-that).

Question 24

Theory vs Object Conception

Answer 24

Depends on what counts as ‘physical.’ Maybe the objection only works under one conception.

Question 25

Intentionality

Answer 25

'Aboutness' of thoughts (e.g., I think about Vienna).

Question 26

Dispositional Theory

Answer 26

'Red' means red because we're disposed to apply it to red things.

Question 27

Kripke's Objection

Answer 27

Misapplication problem: If I look through rose glasses and call white 'red,' dispositionalism says 'red' = 'red-or-white-seen-through-rose-glasses.'

Question 28

Supervenience Solution

Answer 28

Numbers exist in all worlds → trivially supervene.

Question 29

Nominalism

Answer 29

Deny numbers exist (hard to defend).

Question 30

Groundable Distinction

Answer 30

Only groundable properties (like mental states) must be physical; math truths may be ungroundable.

Question 31

Chomsky's Dilemma

Answer 31

The 'project of physicalism' is misguided.

Question 32

Premise 1 of Causal Closure

Answer 32

Physical world is causally closed (every physical event has a physical cause).

Question 33

Premise 2 of Causal Closure

Answer 33

Mental events cause physical events (e.g., desire → arm moves).

Question 34

Premise 3 of Causal Closure

Answer 34

Exclusion principle: no double causes unless one depends on the other.

Question 35

Conclusion of Causal Closure

Answer 35

Mental events must be dependent on physical events → physicalism is true.

Question 36

Objection: Epiphenomenalism

Answer 36

Mental events don't cause anything.

Question 37

Objection: Overdetermination

Answer 37

Like two bullets killing one prisoner.

Question 38

Argument from Methodological Naturalism

Answer 38

Metaphysics should follow science.

Question 39

Conclusion of Methodological Naturalism

Answer 39

Rational to believe physicalism.