What is materialism? How does it supposedly explain immaterial things such as sensations, ideas, and feelings?
- This is a philosophy 101 class
- my professor focuses on the book "republic" Ed3 by Plato
These are the requirements:
• I suggest that you write 3-4 paragraphs for each question. The first 1-2 paragraphs should explain the material. The second 1-2 paragraphs should state your own opinion about it and give some good reasons for your opinion.
• You will be graded on the basis of two considerations: First, did you understand, and could you clearly explain, in detail and in your own words, the material that was presented to you in class and in the readings? You will lose points if you just re-state the lecture notes. Second, did you express an opinion and give a reason for your opinion? Was your reason just a repetition of the ideas that I presented to you in the lecture or in the book? Was it just an unsupported assertion? Or was it an original idea? You will lose points if I cannot find an original idea in your paper, or if you state an idea but do not give any reason for it.
• A better essay is one that is more clearly and precisely written and includes more details and reasons, not just more words.
• Your essays will be submitted to Turnitin.com for originality analysis. Do not submit answers with wording identical to another student. It will be identified and penalized.
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What is materialism? How does it supposedly explain immaterial things such as sensations, ideas, and feelings? And why would one believe that it is true? How would you defend against the criticisms brought against it by Plato and Philips?
Materialism sometimes referred to as physicalism, holds that all matter or facts such as on human mind will, and history are causally related to physical processes (Ellenzweig & John, Zammito, pp. 10-12). Philosophically, materialism is a form that postulates that matter are the fundamental substance in nature and that all things, including mental states and consciousness, emanate from material interactions. Thus, it can be argued that mind and consciousness are products or outcomes of physical or ‘material’ processes such as brain anatomy and its associated biochemical processes. According to philosophical materialism, the concept of material or physicality precedes mental processes such as thinking and consciousness. The concept of materialism is not rigid. Instead, it is extensive to include sensations, feelings, and thoughts that may not demonstrate a direct relationship with physical matter or material. The ideas, thoughts, feelings, and sensations are captured in epiphenomenalism materialism. The epiphenomenalism materialism constitutes mechanistic materialism where mental states, consciousness, and process are considered as products of the brain without apparent causality. Thus, the ideas, thoughts, and sensations are generated as a result of brain states. All sensations or feelings result from atoms impinging on the senses.
Plato’s argument appears to oppose materialism. Plato advanced the concept of idealism, which is anathema to materialism. Plato’s proposition reflects the doctrine of ideas where ideas contain the true nature of things that physical or material forms cannot provide. On the aspect of materialism, Phili...