A refutation of physicalism

pp. 115-132

in: , A theory of the absolute, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014

Abstract

Should one be a physicalist? In this chapter, I argue, benevolently, that the argument from causal closure is either unsound or question-begging, but, more realistically, that it is absolutely misplaced because its scope is restricted to a certain class of mental properties. It does not even touch the question of whether every particular in the actual world is a physical particular, and therefore cannot support physicalism. Because the argument from causal closure is the canonical argument for physicalism, I conclude there is no positive reason to be a physicalist at all.