physicism
Noun: - Philosophical doctrine: "physicism" refers to a philosophical theory or system that explains all phenomena, including mental and spiritual ones, in terms of physical laws and processes; it is a form of materialism that reduces everything to physical matter and its interactions.
- (A doctrine reducing mental states to physical processes.)
- (A critique of the materialist view.)
"radical physicism": an extreme version of physicism that denies the existence of any non-physical entities, such as souls or abstract ideas.
- Radical physicism rejects the notion of free will as an illusion. (An uncompromising materialist stance.)
"scientific physicism": a version of physicism that aligns closely with the methods and findings of natural science.
- Many neuroscientists lean toward a form of scientific physicism in their research. (A scientifically grounded materialist approach.)
Physicist (n): a scientist who specializes in physics, often distinguished from a proponent of physicism.
- The physicist studied quantum mechanics, but she did not endorse physicism. (A scientist, not necessarily a materialist philosopher.)
Physicalism (n): a more common term for the same doctrine, often used interchangeably with physicism in philosophy.
- Physicalism is the dominant view in contemporary philosophy of mind. (A synonym for physicism.)
- Materialism: the philosophical view that matter is the fundamental substance in nature, and all phenomena, including mental states, are results of material interactions.
- Naturalism: the belief that only natural laws and forces operate in the universe, often overlapping with physicism.
"All is matter": a concise expression of the core idea of physicism, meaning that everything in existence is composed of or reducible to physical substance.
- The slogan 'All is matter' encapsulates the essence of physicism. (A simplified statement of the doctrine.)
"The ghost in the machine": a phrase used by critics of physicism to describe the problem of explaining consciousness within a purely physical framework.
- Philosophers who reject physicism often point to the 'ghost in the machine' as a flaw in the theory. (A metaphor for the mind-body problem.)