Materialism

• What is materialism?

  The belief that the mind and body are inseperable. There is no such thing as a soul and once an individual dies they cease to exist; there is no personal existence in the afterlife
• What is hard materialism?

  Does not accept that an individual's characteristics are anything more than physical ones. Consciousness is nothing more than brain activity
• What is soft materialism?

  Not all characteristics are physical ones. Consciousness is more than just a brain process. Mind and body are related, but the body often displays inner emotions
• What is property dualism?

  there is only one type of substance, physical substance, but this is split into mental and physical. There are causal relations between distinct events
• What do materialists believe about the body/soul relationship?

  No such thing as a soul and humans are no more than their physical bodies. There is no scientific evidence for a soul because that area is inaccessible to scientific activity so it's not possible to prove if one exists or not. When the body dies, so does the mind
• Who is Richard Dawkins?

  An atheist who believes in biological materialism
• What did Dawkins believe was the purpose of life?

  He says scientific beliefs are supported by scientific evidence and are reliable; in contrast, religious beliefs depend on myth and faith as there is no empirical evidence. He claims that the belief in the soul comes from the inability to accept that evil and suffering have no purpose. The purpose is DNA survival. Humans are no more than DNA carriers that will ensure the survival of the species
• What is meme?

  Human culture / cultural survival within an individual. Cultural footprint (people's memories of us); this is the only thing we leave behind, the only part of us that lives after death
• What did Sam Harris believe?

  If you damage the brain, it is not scientifically possible to regain those memories in the afterlife. The brain cannot survive without the physical body
• How does Phineas Gage's story support the materialist argument?

  He was involved in an accident that caused a large iron rod to go through his skull. He survived the accident but his friends said his personality drastically changed; a usually calm man was angry. This proves the materialist argument that the mind and body work together. There is no separate substance that preserves our identity
• What did Gilbert Ryle say?

  He called Descartes definition of the soul a 'category mistake'. He spoke of the soul as if it was something identifiably extra within a person when it wasn't. Example: a cricket team needs fielders. A cricket team needs team spirit. The second is not real, it is not perceivable. The same applies to the soul. Descartes describes it as the first statement when it actually applies to the latter