Physicalism

Abstract

Physicalism, the theory that everything is physical is one of the most controversial ideas in philosophy. In this introduction, the author focuses on three fundamental questions: the interpretation, truth, and philosophical significance of physicalism, while covering the following key topics: history, definitions, challenge from empirical sciences, relationship with physics, relationship with causality, and key debates in metaphysics and philosophy of mind, such as supervenience, identity, and conceivability