Reductive materialism (Identity Theory) claims that there is no independent, autonomous level of phenomena in the world that would correspond to the level of conscious mental states. It also states that the level of conscious phenomena is identical with some level of purely neurological description. Conscious phenomena are nothing over and above the neural level, thus it can be reduced to that level. identity theory is a regularly published, webzine of literature and culture edited by Matt Borondy from Austin, TX, established in 2000. ...
Similar reductions have taken place in the history of science:
water = H2O
visible light = EM-radiation at certain wavelengths
temperature = kinetic of energy molecules
pain = neural impulses in C-fibers
seeing red = synchronization of neural activity at 40Hz in V4
A major criticism of this theory is that it leaves out qualia--what it is actually like to see red, or feel pain, or experience anything. Redness is the canonical quale. ...
See also
The mind-body problem, Monism, Materialism, Physicalism, Eliminative materialism, Emergent materialism The mind-body problem is the problem of determining the relationship between the human body and the human mind. ... Monism is the metaphysical and theological view that all is of one essential essence, principle, substance or energy. ... In philosophy, materialism is that form of physicalism which holds that the only thing that can truly be said to exist is matter; that fundamentally, all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. ... Actually, the suggestion is that we keep this article title as about physicalism generally (as described in the 2 paragraphs below) and split/merge the rest of the content into articles about physicalism in philosophy of mind. ... Eliminativists argue that our modern belief in the existence of mental phenomena is analogous to our ancient belief in obsolete theories such as the geocentric model of the universe. ... Emergent materialism asserts that we will never understand the mechanism of emergence: it will always seem to us like emergence is magical. ...
In philosophy, materialism is that form of physicalism which holds that the only thing that can truly be said to exist is matter; that fundamentally, all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions.
Materialism is sometimes allied with the methodological principle of reductionism, according to which the objects or phenomena individuated at one level of description, if they are genuine, must be explicable in terms of the objects or phenomena at some other level of description -- typically, a more general level than the reduced one.
Marxism also uses materialism to refer to the scientific world view, It emphasizes a "materialist conception of history", which is not concerned with metaphysics but centers on the empirical world of actual human activity (practice, including labor) and the institutions created, reproduced, or destroyed by that activity (see materialist conception of history).
Reductivematerialism (Identity Theory) claims that there is no independent, autonomous level of phenomena in the world that would correspond to the level of conscious mental states.
It also states that the level of conscious phenomena is identical with some level of purely neurological description.
Similar reductions have taken place in the history of science:
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