physicalism/hard materialism/monism

• physicalism argues there is no body/soul relationship

  • everything can instead be explained in terms of matter
  • there is no soul
• physicalism gives obvious explanations for common phenomena:

  • as people reach old age, they may become forgetful, confused, may suffer from dementia
  • taking alcohol or drugs may influence perception of reality
  • illness + adrenaline also both affect what we experience
• functionalism is one type of physicalism
• Richard Dawkins is hard materialist/functionalist, arguing that:

  • humans are simply carriers of DNA - the body is a "survival machine"
  • there is no such thing as an immortal soul guiding us - this is just wish-fulfilment
• evaluation of hard materialism:

  • the reductionism is very determinist - a problem for the belief in free will + moral responsibility
  • rules out the idea of survival after death - unacceptable for religious believers