physicalism

[ fiz-i-kuh-liz-uhm ]

noun

1. a doctrine associated with logical positivism and holding that every meaningful statement, other than the necessary statements of logic and mathematics, must refer directly or indirectly to observable properties of spatiotemporal things or events.

physicalism

/ ˈfɪzɪkəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. philosophy the doctrine that all phenomena can be described in terms of space and time and that all meaningful statements are either analytic, as in logic and mathematics, or can be reduced to empirically verifiable assertions See also logical positivism identity theory

Derived Forms

• ˈphysicalist, nounadjective
• ˌphysicalˈistic, adjective

Other Words From

• physi·cal·ist noun adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of physicalism¹

From the German word Physikalismus, dating back to 1930–35. See physical, -ism

Example Sentences

Does consciousness reduce to physicalism, or is it fundamental?

From Science Daily

Seth, the neuroscientist, was not at the workshop—but I asked him where he stands in the debate over physicalism and its various alternatives.

From Scientific American

But projecting simple consciousness, in my view, actually contributes to an elegant solution to the mind-body problem which removes all the “epicycles” generated by physicalism and dualism—just like heliocentrism did to geocentrism.

From Scientific American

And unlike alternative perspectives that place themselves “beyond physicalism,” it will continue to shed light on one of our deepest mysteries through rigorous application of the scientific method.

From Scientific American

According to the mainstream metaphysical view of physicalism, reality is fundamentally constituted by physical stuff outside and independent of mind.

From Scientific American