| |
Abstract:
Materialists
hold that every thing and event in the universe is physical in
every respect. They hold that "physical phenomenon" is coextensive
with "real phenomenon," or at least with "real, concrete
phenomenon," and for the purposes of this chapter I am going to
assume that they are right.(1)
Monists
hold that there is, fundamentally, only one kind of stuff in
realityin a sense that I will discuss further in §6.
Realistic
monistsrealistic anybodysgrant that experiential phenomena are
real, where by "experiential phenomena" and "experience" I mean the
phenomena of consciousness considered just and only in respect of
the qualitative character that they have for those who have them as
they have them.
Realistic materialist monists,
then, grant that experiential phenomena are real, and are wholly
physical, strictly on a par with the phenomena of extension and
mass as characterized by physics. For if they do not, they are not
realistic materialists. This is the part of the reason why genuine,
reflective endorsement of materialism is a very considerable
achievement. I think, in fact, that it requires concerted
meditative effort. If one hasnt felt a kind of vertigo of
astonishment, when facing the thought that consciousness is a
wholly physical phenomenon in every respect, then one hasnt begun
to be a thoughtful materialist. One hasnt got to the starting
line.
Full text of article
|
