Scientific Materialism

The word 'materialism' is ambiguous: it designates a moral doc­ trine as well as a philosophy and, indeed, an entire world view. Moral materialism is identical with hedonism, or the doctrine that humans should pursue only their own pleasure. Philosophical ma­ terialismis the view that the real worId is composed exclusively of material things. The two doctrines are logically independent: hedonism is consistent with immaterialism, and materialism is compatible with high minded morals. We shall be concerned ex­ c1usively with philosophical materialism. And we shall not confuse it with realism, or the epistemological doctrine that knowIedge, or at any rate scientific knowledge, attempts to represent reality. Philosophical materialism is not a recent fad and it is not a solid block: it is as old as philosophy and it has gone through six quite different stages. The first was ancient materialism, centered around Greek and Indian atomism. The second was the revival of the first during the 17th century. The third was 18th century ma­ terialism, partly derived from one side of Descartes' ambiguous legacy. The fourth was the mid-19th century "scientific" material­ ism, which flourished mainly in Germany and England, and was tied to the upsurge of chemistry and biology. The fifth was dialec­ tical and historical materialism, which accompanied the consolida­ tion of the socialist ideology. And the sixth or current stage, evolved mainly by Australian and American philosophers, is aca­ demic and nonpartisan but otherwise very heterogeneous. Ancient materialism was thoroughly mechanistic. The word 'materialism' is ambiguous: it designates a moral docƯ trine as well as a philosophy and, indeed, an entire world view. Moral materialism is identical with hedonism, or the doctrine that humans should pursue only their own pleasure. Philosophical maƯ terialismis the view that the real worId is composed exclusively of material things. The two doctrines are logically independent: hedonism is consistent with immaterialism, and materialism is compatible with high minded morals. We shall be concerned exƯ c1usively with philosophical materialism. And we shall not confuse it with realism, or the epistemological doctrine that knowIedge, or at any rate scientific knowledge, attempts to represent reality. Philosophical materialism is not a recent fad and it is not a solid block: it is as old as philosophy and it has gone through six quite different stages. The first was ancient materialism, centered around Greek and Indian atomism. The second was the revival of the first during the 17th century. The third was 18th century maƯ terialism, partly derived from one side of Descartes' ambiguous legacy. The fourth was the mid-19th century "scientific" materialƯ ism, which flourished mainly in Germany and England, and was tied to the upsurge of chemistry and biology. The fifth was dialecƯ tical and historical materialism, which accompanied the consolidaƯ tion of the socialist ideology. And the sixth or current stage, evolved mainly by Australian and American philosophers, is acaƯ demic and nonpartisan but otherwise very heterogeneous. Ancient materialism was thoroughly mechanistic Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Matter Today....Pages 3-16 Materialism Today....Pages 17-31 Front Matter....Pages 33-33 Modes of Becoming....Pages 35-40 A Critique of Dialectics....Pages 41-63 Front Matter....Pages 65-65 A Materialist Theory of Mind....Pages 67-89 Mind Evolving....Pages 91-105 Front Matter....Pages 107-107 A Materialist Concept of Culture....Pages 109-135 Popper’s Unworldly World 3....Pages 137-157 Front Matter....Pages 159-159 The Status of Concepts....Pages 161-174 Logic, Semantics, and Ontology....Pages 175-192 Back Matter....Pages 193-219