Exploring Classical Theism and Physicalism
ABSTRACT: Could a classical theist be a physicalist? Although a negative answer to this question may seem obvious, it turns out that a case can be made for the consistency of a variant of classical theism and global supervenience physicalism. Although intriguing, the case ultimately fails due to the weakness of global supervenience as an account of the dependence of mental on physical properties.
Physicalism is popular these days, and to a lesser extent so is classical theism. It should therefore come as no surprise that a number of theists are bent on combining theism with physicalism. But could a classical theist be a physicalist? Is this a coherent doctrinal combination? The classical theist affirms the metaphysically necessary existence of a concrete, purely spiritual, being upon which every other concrete being is ontologically dependent. The physicalist, however, is committed to the proposition that everything, or at least everything concrete, is either physical or determined by the physical. To be a bit more precise, physicalism is usefully viewed as the conjunction of an 'inventory thesis' which specifies physicalistically admissible individuals and a 'determination thesis' which specifies physicalistically admissible properties.(1) What the inventory thesis says, at a first approximation, is that every concretum is either a physical item or composed of physical items. As for the determination thesis, what it says is that physical property-instantiations determine all other property-instantiations; equivalently, every nonphysical property-instantiation supervenes on physical property-instantiations. These rough characterizations suggest that theism and physicalism logically exclude one another. If God as classically conceived exists, then the inventory thesis is violated: not every concrete entity is either physical or composed of physical items. And if God exists, it would also appear that the determination thesis is flouted: God's instantiation of his omni-attributes does not supervene on His instantiation of any physical properties: He has none. So at first glance it seems almost crashingly obvious that the classical theist cannot be a physicalist.
But this talk cannot end just yet. For when we get down to the details of formulating precise versions of both the inventory and determination theses, it turns out that there is a way to attempt the reconciliation of theism and physicalism. It is the viability of this way that I aim to explore. But first some background.
Towards Nonreductive Physicalism
I will take it for granted that a plausible version of physicalism cannot be either eliminativist or reductionist.
Barbara Montero is an associate professor of philosophy at the City University of New York. In her article “Post-Physicalism” she aims to convince people, mainly physicalists, to begin thinking of the mind/body problem from a new perspective. Montero reasons that the term “physical” is too difficult a term to define, which leads to a serious flaw of the direction of physicalist arguments. Her main idea is that the mind/body problem is really the problem of finding a place for mentality in a fundamentally nonmental world, not a fundamentally physical world. Directing the question towards “Is mentality a fundamental feature of the world?”, in her opinion, relieves the conflict between naturalism and ontological significance, and paves the way
As such, I believe that I have provided potential alternatives to the question that the argument from vagueness attempts to solve. While the arguments that I have provided for the alternatives are prone to errors, the goal is to show that it is possible to entertain such alternatives as opposed to accepting universalism, and hence four-dimensionalism. As the non-temporal argument suffers from this weakness, so too does the temporal one.
American Philosophical Quarterly 21, no. 3 (1984): 227-36.
Charles Perkins was an Australian Aboriginal Activist who experienced firsthand the poor living standards and treatment of Aboriginals as he lived in aboriginal reserve until 10 then in a boy’s home (Anon., 2013). He was a well know national fi...
Wittgenstein, Ludwig; G. E. M. Anscombe, P.M.S. Hacker and Joachim Schulte (eds. and trans.). Philosophical Investigations. 4th edition, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Print.
The Colosseum is a large ellipsoid arena built in the first century B.C. under the emperors of the Flavian dynasty. This arena was used to watch entertaining shows like gladiator fights or wild animal hunts. The Colosseum had three levels of different columns. The first level contained Doric columns, the second Ionic, and the third level carried Corinthian columns. The construction had no fewer than eighty entrances; one of them was for the dead people who lost the battle, another for the ones who carried victory; and one was reserved for the Emperor's use. The total capacity for the Colosseum was approximately 45,000 seated and there was space for 5,000 standing
The Colosseum was an enormous entertainment center. Roman audiences watched a variety of athletic events and spectacles, including animal hunts, fights to the death between gladiators or between gladiators and wild animals, performances of trained animals and acrobats, and even mock sea battle. The colosseum is designed in an oval shape, like many stadiums today, and seats up to 50,000 spectators. The concrete core, with its vaulted corridors and stair ways is devised to ensure the smooth flow of traffic to and from the arena. The semi-circle outer walls of the Colosseum consist of three levels, the three Classical orders are superimposed according to their "weight": Doric, the oldest, on the first level, it's followed by the Ionic, then the third level the Corinthian capitals. These are the basic structures of the Colosseum in Rome.
Lord Byron once stated, “While stands the Colosseum, Rome shall stand;/ When falls the Colosseum, Rome shall fall;/ And when Rome falls- the World.” The Colosseum not only depicted the incredible architectural skill of the Romans, but also their superiority to others across the globe. Influencing most of the culture and traditions that has been integrated into our modern society, the Roman Empire is a stimulating model of how a single cultural group could shift the architectural world forever. Although inspired by the Greeks, the Roman style is entirely independent and distinct from all others; the Colosseum is only one of many of their historical masterpieces.
The website, Wikipedia.org published an article about the Colosseum. It discusses the history, appearance, and significance of the amphitheatre and also talks about the facade of the Colosseum as did the above sources. According to Wikipedia, “the surviving part of the outer wall's monumental façade comprises three stories of superimposed arcades surmounted by a podium on which stands a tall attic, both of which are pierced by windows interspersed at regular intervals” (wikipedia.org). The arches on the second and third floor arcades framed statues in which may have honored divinities and other figures pertaining to Classical mythology (wikipedia.org). There were 240 mast corbels arranged around the top of the attic that originally supported the velarium (wikipedia.org). All 80 entrances along with the exits and staircases were numbered like a lot of arenas today to ensure fast and easy entry for the spectators. The four exits in which were used for the Emperor and other elite people were decorated with painted stucco reliefs. Those stucco reliefs as well as entrances XXII to LIV still stand today
As with the open windows around the structure, giving a peak of what 's inside. The Colosseum is a significant amphitheater as the arena is only made of sand not like your typical arena. The sand is used in the arena for the gladiator fight and wild animal attack giving a more intimidating scene. The Colosseum is powerful for this violent event which were very popular in the ancient time. From the rich important people to the poor can come to the Colosseum and enjoy the violent show. The location of the Colosseum is significant as it is in the center of the city of Rome, Italy. Where the whole city has access to wonderful structure and admire the building, as it is a monument to the ancient
... we could still imagine the fame and the glory of the gladiators who fought here and sacrificed themselves for the Roman citizens. Regardless the bloodshed and the brutality of the Gladiatorial fights, the Colosseum’s appearance undeniably inspired many other great architectures in the world and served the Roman citizens with laughter and entertainment.
The 'mind-body' problem has troubled philosophers for centuries. This is because no human being has been able to sufficiently explain how the mind actually works and how this mind relates to the body - most importantly to the brain. If this were not true then there would not be such heated debates on the subject. No one objects to the notion that the Earth revolves around the sun because it is empirical fact. However, there is no current explanation on the mind that can be accepted as fact. In 'What is it like to be a bat?', Thomas Nagel does not attempt to solve this 'problem'. Instead, he attempts to reject the reductionist views with his argument on subjectivity. He examines the difficulties of the mind-body problem by investigating the conscious experience of an organism, which is usually ignored by the reductionists. Unfortunately, his arguments contain some flaws but they do shed some light as to why the physicalist view may never be able to solve the mind-body problem.
The Architecture of the Colosseum is very grand, with the capacity to hold up to 80,000 people. The Colosseum is over 160 feet tall, it “has a length of 620 feet and was close to 513 feet wide” (“Colosseum Architecture.”). Because the Colosseum was so big, it would have been very difficult to get so many people in and out of it had it not been for the various arches and stairs built within it. In total there are about 80 arches that each led to various stairways. These stairways then led to all the different levels of the Colosseum, which in turn made it a lot easier and more comfortable for a lot of people to exit it in a short amount of time. The Colosseum also had many arches of which four were “reserved exclusively for royalty and nobles” and the others were for the rest of the people (“Colosseum Architecture.”). Unlike other amphitheaters which had a circular shape, the Colosseum had the unique shape of an oval, which helped the people watching have a better view of the arena. This added to the overall different feel that the Colosseum had.
But, “human persons have an ‘inner’ dimension that is just as important as the ‘outer’ embodiment” (Cortez, 71). The “inner” element cannot be wholly explained by the “outer” embodiment, but it does give rise to inimitable facets of the human life, such as human dignity and personal identity. The mind-body problem entails two theories, dualism and physicalism. Dualism contends that distinct mental and physical realms exist, and they both must be taken into account. Its counterpart (weak) physicalism views the human as being completely bodily and physical, encompassing no non-physical, or spiritual, substances.
In conclusion, Shakespeare’s theme of each sonnet is divided in different ways. His expression of love is somewhat similar to both the young man’s relationship and the dark lady’s. The relationship alternates between the force of love, beauty, jealousy, time, and obligation. The youth shows his affection, but it seems to be false. Shakespeare uses figure of speech to compare ‘nature’ for the love he has for the “dark lady”. His initial feelings; lust and attraction is processed throughout.