Classical Theism, Philosophy, and Religion Forum / Why Is Materialism So Popular?

**Posted by Due_Kindheartedness** 4/27/2016 5:50 pm

Back in the 1970s, people wore bell-bottoms and disco medallions, and everyone living in those times thought they were absolutely groovy. Now, we mock such fashions as being part of an aesthetic dark age. But a valuable lesson nonetheless exists: sometimes we confuse fashion for merit.

Do you think it's the same thing with materialism? Has humanity entered an intellectual disco fever since the mid-19th century, or do you believe that there are deeper reasons for this infatuation with materialism?

**Posted by Mysterious Brony** 4/27/2016 11:41 pm

I wondered this myself. Of course, the matter is more complicated than what I'm about to say, but I think one factor that lead to the popularity of materialism is the success of the empirical sciences. Some materialist thinkers and scientists like to appeal to science as a way to argue for materialism. For example, Paul Churchland argues that the empirical sciences have shown us that we were wrong on several issues that we took for granted and "commonsensical" (i.e. geocentrism) and that one day when the neurosciences are developed sufficiently then those neurosciences will prove us that there is no such thing as the commonsensical mind or "folk psychology" as he calls it. Ullin Place also appealed to the empirical sciences. He thought that we can show that "consciousness is a brain process," which he thought that this was a reasonable scientific hypothesis.

**Posted by iwpoe** 4/28/2016 1:08 am

Don't forget though: Churchland neither believes what he/she says nor holds it true. They future-neuro-talk-verb it and it's of future-neuro-talk-adjective character.

**Posted by Mysterious Brony** 4/29/2016 6:49 pm

@iwpoe
Hmmm, sounds like rehashed logical positivism.

**Posted by AKG** 4/30/2016 6:08 am

Materialist: "The body submits, the heart succumbs, so why does the mind resist?!"
(Kingdom Hearts fans should get this).