Physicalism

Physicalism is the view that everything that exists is physical. This means that the mind, consciousness, and everything else that we experience are all ultimately physical in nature.

There are a number of arguments in favor of physicalism. One argument is that the physical world is all that we can directly observe. We can’t directly observe the mind or consciousness, so they must be physical in nature.

Another argument in favor of physicalism is that the physical world is all that we can explain. All of our scientific theories are about the physical world, and they have been very successful in explaining the world around us.

Dualism

Dualism is the view that there are two distinct substances in the world: the physical and the mental. The physical substance is the stuff that makes up the physical world, and the mental substance is the stuff that makes up the mind and consciousness.

There are a number of arguments in favor of dualism. One argument is that the mind and consciousness seem to be different from the physical world in a number of ways. For example, the mind is not subject to the laws of physics, and it seems to be able to interact with the physical world in ways that are not easily explained by physicalism.

Another argument in favor of dualism is that the mind seems to be immaterial. We can’t point to the mind in the same way that we can point to a physical object. The mind seems to be something that exists independently of the physical world.

Which theory holds more water for me?

I believe that physicalism holds more water than dualism. I think that the arguments in favor of physicalism are more convincing than the arguments in favor of dualism.

I also think that the success of physicalism in explaining the world around us is a strong argument in its favor. Physicalism has been able to explain a wide range of phenomena, including the workings of the brain, the nature of consciousness, and the behavior of animals.

However, I do think that dualism raises some important questions that physicalism cannot answer. For example, how does the mind interact with the physical world? And what is the nature of consciousness? These are questions that I think physicalism will need to answer in order to be a complete theory of reality.

Ultimately, I think that the debate between physicalism and dualism is a complex one that is not likely to be resolved anytime soon. However, I believe that physicalism is the more promising theory, and I think that it is the theory that is most likely to be correct.