...Contemporary theories in cognitive science and the philosophy of mind lend support for the materialist position regarding the mind-body problem. A few of these theories: naturalism, and behaviourism form the basis of why I am a materialist. Dualist approaches offer counter-arguments to Materialism, such as Spiritualism and Interactionism but both empirically fall short. Current research materialistically concludes that mental states are nothing but physical states. As a materialist I would say: There are no souls, the mind is just the brain, everything can by expressed or explained physically. The naturalist in me would more thoroughly assert that nothing exists beyond the natural world, that natural laws are the rules that govern the structure and behavior of the natural universe. That the changing universe at every stage is a product of these laws and this is what forms the basis of my material beliefs. I do not believe in the supernatural, or souls. I believe that biology, neurology and psychology fulfill the soul's supposed function and that the universe developed naturally, without any "creator". inversely, a popular rebuttal to Naturalism is Spiritualism. The Spiritualist would assert we do indeed have souls, and that when we die our soul’s survive the death’s of our bodies by ascending into a spirit existence. While this can be argued for theoretically and rationally, there is no empirical evidence to support such a belief. That leads me to doubt in the validity of...
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...Substance Dualism vs. Materialism At the center of the debate over human nature, the existence of free will, and the validity of science are two opposing viewpoints: materialism and dualism. Dualism is the belief that a person is made up of two kinds of substances: physical matter and above all else, an immaterial force known as the mind, or soul. Materialism refutes dualism, asserting that man and matter are inseparable, and that there is no mysterious, supernatural force directing our actions. Both viewpoints were derived in an attempt to place philosophy on firmer, more scientific ground. The arguments of Descartes and Hobbes for substance dualism and materialism, respectively, are representative of this debate. Although materialism and dualism have their own internal problems and flaws, I will argue that many of the objections that have been leveled against materialism can be met and that, on the whole, materialism is a much more plausible theory than dualism. The Greek philosopher Socrates believed that nothing could be certain without divine knowledge, which no man possesses. However, René Descartes, a 16th century French philosopher believed that some things could be determined to be certain as long as they were deduced through the proper methods. This method, known as the method of doubt, led Descartes to the foundational beliefs that became the basis for Substance Dualism. Simply put, Substance Dualism is the belief that there are two types of substances:...
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...TermPaperWarehouse.com - Free Term Papers, Essays and Research Documents The Research Paper Factory JoinSearchBrowseSaved Papers Home Page » Other Topics Historical Materialism In: Other Topics Historical Materialism INTRODUCTION "In the Marxian view, human history is like a river. From any given vantage point, a river looks much the same day after day. But actually it is constantly flowing and changing, crumbling its banks, widening and deepening its channel. The water seen one day is never the same as that seen the next. Some of it is constantly being evaporated and drawn up, to return as rain. From year to year these changes may be scarcely perceptible. But one day, when the banks are thoroughly weakened and the rains long and heavy, the river floods, bursts its banks, and may take a new course. This represents the dialectical part of Marx’s famous theory of dialectical (or historical) materialism." Historical materialism is a methodological approach to the study of society, economics, and history first articulated by Karl Marx (1818–1883) as the materialist conception of history. It is a theory of socioeconomic development according to which changes in material conditions (technology and productive capacity) are the primary influence on how society and the economy are organised. Historical materialism looks for the causes of developments and changes in human society in the means by which humans collectively produce the necessities of life. Social classes and the...
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...the river floods, bursts its banks, and may take a new course. This represents the dialectical part of Marx’s famous theory of dialectical (or historical) materialism." Historical materialism is a methodological approach to the study of society, economics, and history first articulated by Karl Marx (1818–1883) as the materialist conception of history. It is a theory of socioeconomic development according to which changes in material conditions (technology and productive capacity) are the primary influence on how society and the economy are organised. Historical materialism looks for the causes of developments and changes in human society in the means by which humans collectively produce the necessities of life. Social classes and the relationship between them, plus the political structures and ways of thinking in society, are founded on and reflect contemporary economic activity. Since Marx's time, the theory has been modified and expanded by thousands of Marxist thinkers. It now has many Marxist and non-Marxist variants. Objectives of Study: • To define Historical Materialism. • To discuss about the basic philosophy behind the concept of historical Materialism by Karl Marx. • To study about the Recent Versions of Historical Materialism. • To findout the limitations of the Concept of Historical Materialism. Research...
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... ------------------------------------------------- Neo-Materialism and the Death of the Subject Thesis The only way to make the Matrix comprehensible is to adopt a view that has disturbing implications for the film: the existence of a Matrix as depicted in the film is impossible, and even if such a prison existed, it may be morally neutral with respect to those who are imprisoned. Reductive Materialism: The view that only the material world (matter) is truly real, and that all processes and realities observed in the universe can be explained by reducing them down to their most basic scientific components, e.g., atoms, molecules Dualism: The view that the world consists of or is explicable as two fundamental entities, such as mind and matter. Eliminative Materialism: Eliminative materialism is the radical claim that our ordinary, common-sense understanding of the mind is deeply wrong and that some or all of the mental states posited by common-sense do not actually exist. Support Reductive Materialism Michael Tye * Proposes that understanding something is not the same as knowing something. * “Understanding what something is is not the same as knowing what it is like to experience that thing.” * The reductive materialist claims that after an adequate explanation of the reduction, the dualist will see that there is a sense in which the mental state is the material state. * Reductive materialism holds that we do have “mental state”, which are the actual...
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...Many of us have some view or idea of the afterlife – whether it is some kind of utopia or even if there is one at all. Research conducted by Douglas Davies found that around 29% of us believe that nothing happens after death, 8% think that our bodies awaits resurrection and 12% believe that we will come back as someone else. Of course there are some more religious people, 22%, who just think that we should trust in God, the remaining 34% of us believe that our souls passes on to another world. These views can all be classed into the traditional divide used when discussing the soul and life after death. There is the Monist view – the idea that the body and the soul exists as a single unity, the souls existence is dependent on the body, belief in resurrection and reincarnation falls under this idea. The Materialist view is the idea that human beings are purely physical beings and does not consist of a body and a soul – belief in there being nothing after death falls under this category. The final view is Dualism – the idea that humans consist of two elements, the body and the soul – where the body is physical the soul is immaterial. The belief of a place after death falls under this view. The first idea we will explore is dualism. Plato famously claimed that the soul is ‘imprisoned’ by the body. He put forward the Allegory of the Chariot – where there is the charioteer (which represents the soul) and two horses (one representing the mind and the other the body). The soul attempts...
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...Marvin Harris: Cultural Materialism perspective Theory: A model of human behavior. Model involving a logical explanation of some phenomenon Model tries to generalize about social behavior A theory in social sciences must be empirically testable or supported by evidence Materialist versus Idealist views of Culture Food as Feed (required for physical existence/survival) Food as symbolic: as Status/prestige, Health, class, group identity, sexuality, gender, power, ritual, protest Why don=t Hindus eat beef? Or, why don’t Jews and Muslims eat Pork? MATERIALIST: ABecause it is more profitable to preserve the cow=s for other uses” IDEALIST : ABecause they consider the cow sacred, and will not kill it for food” Theories are based on Assumptions Materialist View: Humans are rational beings. They will weigh the costs and benefits of actions. Biological needs such as food, sex are more important than other needs. Work is less desirable than leisure. Behaviors influence ideas. Idealist View: Human seek meaning in action. Symbolic understanding orients all human action, including the satisfaction of biological needs. We cannot understand human behavior without understanding the system of meanings that govern behavior from the actor’s point of view. Ideas influence action. Harris= materialist explanation of the Asacred cow@ in India Beef was consumed in the past...
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...FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OYE-EKITI, EKITI STATE, NIGERIA. A TERM PAPER TITLE:- “THE ESSENCE/SUBSTANCE OF MAN” BY FACULTY: SCIENCE DEPARTMENT: MICROBIOLOGY COURSE TITLE: PHILOSOPHY AND LOGIC COURSE CODE: GST 205 CONTENT * Introduction * What is man * Philosophically * Scientifically * The essence and substance of man * What constitute man * Man as a dualist * Man as a monad * Man as a socialist * Man as a spiritual entity * Man as a physical entity * Intrinsic characteristics that man have in common * Illustration of the mental essence(when man is abnormal is he still half or full) INTRODUCTION The essence of man is the constituent of man which goes beyond his body alone but extends to his mind, soul, spirit and other attributes of man. But we cannot talk about the essence of man without the existence of man because without an existence of man, man’s essence is of no use and nothing to talk about. This brings about the proposition ‘existence precedes essence’. The proposition that existence precedes essence is a central claim of existentialism, which reverses the traditional philosophical view that the essence (the nature) of a thing is more fundamental and immutable than its existence (the mere fact of its being). To existentialists, human beings—through their consciousness—create their own values and determine a meaning for their life because the human being does not possess any inherent identity or value. By posing the acts that constitute...
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...Materialism is a belief in matter, whereas dualism is not its opposite and "vs" has no relevance or meaing because materialism cannot vs dualism. Those who are deprived of the spiritual insights undersand dualism in a lower pedestal than the meaning it has or indicates. Dualism is a state of being or existence in two seemingly opposite entities. Dvaita (dualistic) as clearly defined in Sankhya Philosophy as opposed to Advaita (non-dualistic) monism as clearly defined by Adi Shri Shankaracharya. Though Plato did believe in Dualism and reached a stage of defining the fifth element Ether but he could not grasp the spiritual essense of it completely due to lack of spiritual progress in life. That pertains to matter is materialism. That pertains to Spirit is spiritualism. Spirit and matter are dual states of existence, like night and day, black and white, good and evil and all such seemingly opposites. But, the fact remains that the seemingly opposites cannot exist in isolation from the source and remains within or connected to the source and therefore everything in the world is one unit of undifferentiated Brahman or Sat Chit Ananda (Truth(Existance), Consciousness and Bliss). If the cosmos is a one Monistic Unit of Undifferentiated Brahman, due to the illusion of the senses, the undifferentiated brahman is seen by human beings as differentiated and having separate entitties. Here the division begins, the pattern of two is dualism, then the pattern of three, the pattern of four and...
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...Carvakas were ancient supporters of philosophy that assumed religious indifference and disbelief in contemporary philosophical theories, ideas and suggestions. The term Carvakas was used to denote the philosophical school of ‘Indian Materialism’. In its most basic sense, “Indian Materialism” refers to the school of thought within Indian philosophy that rejects anything surrealistic or supernatural. It rejects the existence spiritual, non worldly entities such an soul or god and the after-life. Their primary philosophical import comes from science and naturalism, thus they rejects ethical systems that are grounded in super naturalistic beliefs. The good, for the Indian materialist, is strictly associated with pleasure and the only ethical obligation forwarded by the system is the maximization of one’s own pleasure. The Carvakas were condemned and critized as this philosophical entity did not believe in contemporary view of ethics. The Cārvākas denied metaphysical concepts like reincarnation, soul, religious rites, other world (heaven and hell), fate and accumulation of merit or demerit through the performance of certain actions. The rejected the use of supernatural causes to describe natural phenomena. To them all natural phenomena was produced spontaneously from the inherent nature of things.[21] Carvakas thought that body was formed out of four elements (and that consciousness was an outcome of the mixture of these elements. Therefore, Carvakas did not believe...
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...SOCS 350 Midterm Exam Click Link Below To Buy: http://hwcampus.com/shop/socs-350-midterm-exam/ Grade Details - All Questions Page: 1 2 Question 1. Question : (TCO 1) Which of the following is a predicted outcome of continued global warming? Question 2. Question : (TCO 2) The realist-constructionist debate in environmental sociology is characterized by differences in materialist versus idealist explanations of social life. Which of the following distinguishes a constructionist perspective on environment problems? Question 3. Question : (TCO 3) The 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists whose work led to discovery of the causes for the thinning of the earth's atmosphere by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Which of the following was NOT one of these scientists? Question 4. Question : (TCO 4) Who is/was the "original affluent society" according to Marshall Sahlins? Question 5. Question : (TCO 5) The hau of material objects refers to: Question 6. Question : (TCO 6) What has been the result of air quality from strict emission controls? Question 7. Question : (TCO 7) According to Malthus, population grows: Question 8. Question : (TCO 7) Which of the following does Sen claim will NOT insure food availability? Question 9. Question : (TCO 3) What percentage of the world's original forests remain? Question 10. Question : (TCO 5) According to your text...
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...Christina Ma Instructor Robin Jordan ENG 101 November 21, 2013 Advertisements Keep Materialism Alive Advertisements are all around us; it is a part of our everyday lives and affects us on both conscious and subconscious levels. Walking down a street in New York City with Macy’s, Bloomingdales, Barney’s, and all these high-end brands, you are bombarded with advertisements from companies trying to sell you their products. The imagery and persuasion that they use is of ideology. An ideal world, or an ideal lifestyle. An advert’s main focus isn’t necessarily on the product they are trying to sell you; they are trying to sell you a lifestyle, an imaginary one, which for most can only exists in our minds and dreams, making the public want and aim for something impossible showing us images of people who are enjoying a ‘better’ life are therefore enviable. Advertisements influences society making us susceptible to being materialistic. Advertisements claim they only give you choices and advice; however, they subtly create a divide between ‘you’ and ‘them,’ the advertisers. In situations like these materialism presents problems such as depression and insecurity. The images shown in media are soaked in materialism. Making materialistic people feel that by buying products they will make them happier, however that never ending longing for something that you don’t have causes more unhappiness. People who don’t express materialistic values can enjoy a happier life feeling content...
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...Omar El Karhat Lucas Peters English Composition 1301 October 12th, 2012 Insatiableness, Materialism and Boastfulness “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” Jesus The Christ, A study of the messiah (1915) The idea that wealth and happy lifestyle coexist, mainly, among Moroccan AUI students is really widespread. This knowledge has affected the thoughts, behaviors and the perspectives of AUI students when the majority of them had become more materialistic and snobs rather than being realistic and spiritual, nowadays. Of course, most students from our university come from rich and wealthy families regarding the expensiveness of the tuitions. Thus, they do not care about how hard parents are working for their sake. Their affluence has made their lives comfortable, indeed, nevertheless, what is this wealth really costing parents of AUI’s students- especially AUI learners? Moroccan Capitalism begun to appear in late 60s and the political system reformed and encouraged more the economical trades and ownerships. The idea of wealth grew out of the capitalism concept which is according to Comp² “Our Wealth: Where it is Taking Us?”, “capitalism is a largely system based on consumerism.” Page1 The principle goal of investors that invest in AUI College, such as Sodexo and Newrest serving meals, is to produce many goods and services as, I think it would be better to describe its prices as “cheaxpensive” (which is the mixture between not too cheap but expensive...
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...Epiphenomenalism and Physicalism Physicalism, which is often, in contemporary philosophy interchangeably called Materialism, asserts that the physical world, and everything in it conforms to a certain condition, that of being Physical, either as a causal force or as material. The main argument against Physicalism, Jackson’s argument claims that there exists a contradiction between the existence of Qualia (The felt qualities of experience) and Physicalism. Jackson’s argument is given in the form of a thought experiment in which Mary, a neuroscientist, isolated in a black and white room is given all of the physical facts regarding other people, and so must therefore know everything there is to know about other people. However, it is evident in the second premise that because she learns something new about these people upon being released, she must not have known everything there is to know, though the facts she understood hold true, her experience yields new...
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...Kendall III Walsh University Marketing Management Dr. Julie Szendrey MBA 624 09/07/2013 WHEN WANTING IS BETTER THAN HAVING The article that I have chosen for the research implication paper is “When Wanting is 2 Better than Having: Materialism, Transformation Expectations, and Product-Evoked Emotions in the Purchase Process.” (Richins, 2013) The focus of the article is the accuracy and claim that purchasing brings an individual happiness. I found this article to be of interest not only because it focuses on the ‘People’ aspect of the Modern Marketing Management Four Ps (Kotler & Keller, 2012), but it an interesting insight of consumer behavior from a psychological point of view. This article examines the emotions evoked before, during and after purchasing a product and introduces the concept of hedonic elevation. Hedonic elevation is simply the concept of relating to something with either a pleasant, or an unpleasant, sensation. Lastly, this article focuses on product-evoked emotions between high and low-materialism consumers through the performance of three separate studies, using five different hypotheses. The main emotions that are studied throughout article are joy, excitement, contentment, optimism and peacefulness. Materialism has three main components: a measure of personal success based on what one has acquired in life, that concept that acquisitions and happiness are interdependent, and the simple process of frequently acquiring possessions. This article is the...
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