Materialist theory
Materialist theoryMaterialist Theory
For many centuries, people have pondered upon the question if there is a relation between what we think and what we do physically. Our physical brain gives way to a mind, full of thoughts and processes, but what interaction do the two have? Materialism is a way that people consider the relations between mind and matter to be inseparable. We are physical beings and our mental reactions are just by-products of a material process.
Materialism can be summed up in three theses. The identification thesis equates mind with matter. States and processes of he mind are nothing more than physical states and processes. Materialists consider the mind to encompass the brain and nervous system. Once the mind is reduced onto an aspect of out central nervous system, mental states are considered neurophysiological. The explanation thesis believes that "human and animal behavior is best-fully and most deeply-explained by something physical�in the more contemporary sense of neurochemistry and neurophysiology. Rational or intelligent action is the upshot of processes or activities physically internal to the brain."(Graham, 129) The exclusionist thesis states that human beings possess no special power which regular physical systems and objects normally lack. Our concept of free choice or free will is a mental concept, and since no physical system is free, there is no free will. The human soul can not exist because the soul is something mental and when the body dies, the brain fails to survive as well and the concept of soul exists no longer.
Materialism never states that the mind depends on the body or vice versa, they are identical. One just is the other. Materialists can claim four main virtues for their doctrine. Economy or simplicity can be found when one takes anything mental or intelligent and explains it in a material or physical sense. The mind and brain are not separate entities; they should be referred to as the brain. Some animals are more complex than others psychologically, for example dolphins as compared to rabbits. Since the dolphin's brain is more complex than the rabbits, the mind is also more complex. The complexity explains why dolphins are more intelligent than rabbits. Secondly, Materialists share the virtue of a unified conception of the world. The Materialist believes that nature consists of objects and processes at different levels of organization and sophistication. Put simply, animals are made up of organs, which are made of cells, which are made of molecules, which are made of atoms. All levels of organization are united under Materialist theory. The behavior of higher levels of organization (that of animals) is understood in terms of lower-level units of organization (brain biochemistry).
Materialists expel superstition from their understanding of human behavior. People cannot be afflicted with a demon that does not exist. They believe, correctly, that mental...
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