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7 Materialism: The Brain As Computer
the manner in which fundamental problems are formulated and the kind of
solutions that we seek—all possess the essential hallmarks of pragmatism and
materialism. Moreover, the materialist point of view has been prolific in giving
rise to an abundance of new ideas, which harmonized with one another to
form a coherent Western ideology.
The physicalist way of thought appears already in a mature form in the
writings of the Ionian Greek thinkers in the First Millennium B.C. What they
aspired to know were the fundamental principles of nature, which they called
physis. They conceived the idea that, underlying all natural phenomena, there
are systematic laws and principles. Most importantly, these laws are accessible
to the mind and therefore knowable by human reason. The idea that nature
is ruled by systematic laws—and moreover that these laws are knowable by
the mind—was revolutionary. It empowered man and promised control over
nature.
Perhaps the most central contribution of the Ionian philosophers was their
assertion that nature is formed of matter. They theorized that all matter is made
up of certain underlying elements. In early accounts, these elements are earth,
water, fire and air—but in a later, more sophisticated version, all matter is made
of indivisible particles called atoms. The atoms are in motion and interact by
colliding with one another or hooking together to form larger units. One can
only marvel at how closely they anticipated modern science.
Plato took the next step by making it clear that in order to attain correct
knowledge, it was not enough to observe and make conjectures. Rather, you
had to abstract from what you observe in order to discover underlying patterns that unite many observations under a very few basic laws—because the
most important aspects of knowledge are the broad principles you are able to
derive by generalizing from particular cases. Aristotle added that the source of
all knowledge is in the world, and does not arise in the mind as speculative
thought. He also brought to light the importance of two cornerstones of physical thought: causality and determinism.
It is a great irony that whereas physics was the inspiration for Western
materialism, contemporary physics has turned in a direction where it nonchalantly disregards violations of causality and determinism, which are the very
bases of original physicalism. Research in physics is indifferent to ideology, and
goes wherever the results of research take it. Its basic concepts are becoming
increasingly abstract, and increasingly detached from the natural intuitions
which originally defined it.
One classical definition of materialism claims it’s the viewpoint that all
natural phenomena can be explained by physical theory. The philosopher Carl
Hempel pointed out that such a characterization of materialism is flawed,
7 Materialism: The Brain As Computer
the manner in which fundamental problems are formulated and the kind of
solutions that we seek—all possess the essential hallmarks of pragmatism and
materialism. Moreover, the materialist point of view has been prolific in giving
rise to an abundance of new ideas, which harmonized with one another to
form a coherent Western ideology.
The physicalist way of thought appears already in a mature form in the
writings of the Ionian Greek thinkers in the First Millennium B.C. What they
aspired to know were the fundamental principles of nature, which they called
physis. They conceived the idea that, underlying all natural phenomena, there
are systematic laws and principles. Most importantly, these laws are accessible
to the mind and therefore knowable by human reason. The idea that nature
is ruled by systematic laws—and moreover that these laws are knowable by
the mind—was revolutionary. It empowered man and promised control over
nature.
Perhaps the most central contribution of the Ionian philosophers was their
assertion that nature is formed of matter. They theorized that all matter is made
up of certain underlying elements. In early accounts, these elements are earth,
water, fire and air—but in a later, more sophisticated version, all matter is made
of indivisible particles called atoms. The atoms are in motion and interact by
colliding with one another or hooking together to form larger units. One can
only marvel at how closely they anticipated modern science.
Plato took the next step by making it clear that in order to attain correct
knowledge, it was not enough to observe and make conjectures. Rather, you
had to abstract from what you observe in order to discover underlying patterns that unite many observations under a very few basic laws—because the
most important aspects of knowledge are the broad principles you are able to
derive by generalizing from particular cases. Aristotle added that the source of
all knowledge is in the world, and does not arise in the mind as speculative
thought. He also brought to light the importance of two cornerstones of physical thought: causality and determinism.
It is a great irony that whereas physics was the inspiration for Western
materialism, contemporary physics has turned in a direction where it nonchalantly disregards violations of causality and determinism, which are the very
bases of original physicalism. Research in physics is indifferent to ideology, and
goes wherever the results of research take it. Its basic concepts are becoming
increasingly abstract, and increasingly detached from the natural intuitions
which originally defined it.
One classical definition of materialism claims it’s the viewpoint that all
natural phenomena can be explained by physical theory. The philosopher Carl
Hempel pointed out that such a characterization of materialism is flawed,