by Nikki Albert

Created on: November 17, 2010

Reductive materialism implies that reality is made of inert matter. The mind then can be reduced to a system of neural connections and computational functions. Consciousness seems to arise out this neural network, working memory gives us a sense of identity, and emotions are behavioral responses to our enviroment. This framework not only demystifies the mind; it also reduces all of nature and all organic beings to mere matter. Perhaps we should inquire into the nature of that matter. By taking our cue from quantum physics we find that matter is not merely inert mechanistic building blocks that construct reality from the bottom up. And if reality at the micro level is not as we once thought how does this alter how we conceive of reality at the macro level? In particular how does this affect our conception of the mind, body and relations to other organic beings?

Physics

Materialism as it is so often conceived stems from Isaac Newton. Newton’s doctrine of materialism created the view of the ‘clockwork universe’. In this framework we have absolute space and time, and everything working in a mechanistic and deterministic fashion. The theory of relativity replaced Newton’s concept of space and time as containers and “the very arena in which the clockwork universe acted out its drama was now exposed as a subject to shifting and warping.” (p.14 Matter Myth). Following this breakthrough the quantum theory further changed the view of inert matter. It was replaced “by a shadowy and paradoxical conjunction of waves and particles, governed by the laws of chance rather than the rigid rules of causality.” (p.14 Matter Myth). In the world of quantum physics we become aware that matter has far less substance than we previously believed and this consequently undermines materialism. Recently postulated in the hypothesis of quantum field energy “ in which solid matter dissolves away, to be replaced by weird excitations and vibrations of invisible field energy.” (p.14 Matter Myth). A materialist would no doubt agree that there is equivalence between matter and energy, so would have no residence to modern theories of physics. However, it is the materialists’ conception of matter at the macro level that may take some reconsideration. Quantum physics suggests a holistic framework at the most basic level of reality. On a larger scale physicists seek a grand unifying theory to explain all the forces in the universe.

The

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