Physicalism

In philosophy, physicalism 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] It is opposed to idealism, according to which the world arises from mind. Physicalism is a form of ontological monism—a "one substance" view of the nature of reality, unlike "two-substance" (mind–body dualism) or "many-substance" (pluralism) views. 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 on the basis that physics describes more than just matter. 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, all within a monistic framework.[3]

According to a 2020 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]

  1. ^ See Smart, 1959
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference DStoljar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Stoljar, Daniel (2022), "Physicalism", in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2022 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2022-09-20
  4. ^ https://philpapers.org/archive/BOUPOP-3.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  5. ^ Stoljar, Daniel (2022), "Physicalism", in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2022 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2022-09-20