4 ms·
I didn't claim that memory specifically is immaterial, but that the material is not the "fundamental thing" of monistic metaphysics. Consciousness certainly is
by beaconstudios 5y ago
I didn't claim that memory specifically is immaterial, but that the material is not the "fundamental thing" of monistic metaphysics.
Consciousness certainly isn't a transient process, as it is stable over time (until it isn't). It seems most reasonable to say that it's a self-sustaining process (autopoietic or self-referential) emerging from the body.
- nynx 5y agoGiven that we know of nothing that isn't material, I'm unsure of why it's reasonable to think material is not the fundamental thing of consciousness.
- beaconstudios 5y agoI'm not suggesting anything supernatural, but that energy is prime and that matter is a construction of energy.
- danparsonson 5y agoThat's not a surprising or controversial statement though - physics for the last hundred years (since Einstein) has increasingly moved towards accepting that matter and energy are for all intents and purposes the same thing. I don't think that changes the tenets of materialism, just refines them.
- beaconstudios 5y agoThe term you're looking for is physicalism, of which materialism is one belief, the other being emergentism, which its replacement. There are a number of beliefs that rest upon the bedrock of materialism that persist today despite materialism being outdated. The prime example is reductionism, the idea that anything can be understood by looking at its parts - this is not true, and while this idea is as outdated as the materialist view, it unfortunately persists. Many other ideals like quantification rest on reductionism and are also becoming outmoded in academia but not in the public perception of what are considered rational ideas.
- namero999 5y agoWhat is that knows that which is material?