The philosopher John Gray (known for his anti-humanism) takes on "Scientific Materialism" in the BBC Radio 4 series Points of View, titled The Limits of Materialism
He also states :
However, i see this as mistaken. First of all to propose that the world is only composed of physical things operating to universal laws is a falsifiable theory. You can find (a) a physical thing not operating to universal laws and (b) a non physical thing.
John Gray is creating a bit of a straw man. But this got me thinking about..
*Immaterial but Objective.*
Many forms of energy could be said to be non-physical but are fully objective. Just as human abstractions (and emotions) tend to have no material entity yet they are still objective- such as abstract concept of "Axe" that refers to all axes doesn't exist, but we form the concept of axe through creating and using axes. Sound is a good example, you cannot physically with your body pick up a shout or a whisper, the sound itself is in a sense immaterial. But sound is the effect of a wave through a medium (matter) either air , water etc. And it is fully objective i.e. recordable, changeable -intractable.
Materialism - the philosophy, not the perennial human tendency to pursue and accumulate material things - sees the universe as a physical system. Everything that exists in it must be some sort of matter, or something that emerges from matter. In a fully scientific view of the world, only material things are real. Everything else is just a phantom
He also states :
and after all:The belief that the world is composed only of physical things operating according to universal laws is metaphysical speculation, not a falsifiable theory.
Science is a method of inquiry, whose results can't be known in advance. If scientific inquiry is the most powerful tool for increasing human knowledge, it's because science is continuously changing our view of the world. The prevailing creed of scientific materialism is actually a contradiction, for science isn't a fixed view of things, still less a dogmatic faith.
However, i see this as mistaken. First of all to propose that the world is only composed of physical things operating to universal laws is a falsifiable theory. You can find (a) a physical thing not operating to universal laws and (b) a non physical thing.
John Gray is creating a bit of a straw man. But this got me thinking about..
*Immaterial but Objective.*
Many forms of energy could be said to be non-physical but are fully objective. Just as human abstractions (and emotions) tend to have no material entity yet they are still objective- such as abstract concept of "Axe" that refers to all axes doesn't exist, but we form the concept of axe through creating and using axes. Sound is a good example, you cannot physically with your body pick up a shout or a whisper, the sound itself is in a sense immaterial. But sound is the effect of a wave through a medium (matter) either air , water etc. And it is fully objective i.e. recordable, changeable -intractable.