physicalism

American  

[fiz-i-kuh-liz-uhm] / ˈfɪz ɪ kəˌlɪz əm /

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.

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physicalism British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• physicalist noun
• physicalistic adjective

Etymology

Origin of physicalism

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

Example Sentences

So it's all materialism that's now sort of renamed physicalism.

From Salon • Apr. 21, 2024

Does consciousness reduce to physicalism, or is it fundamental?

From Science Daily • Oct. 10, 2023

“Critiquing physicalism on the basis that it has ‘failed’ is willful mischaracterization,” he says.

From Scientific American • Sep. 25, 2023

So a better way to prevent an A.I. takeover may be to ensure humans remain firmly in control of the physical world—an approach I’ll call physicalism.

From Slate • May 9, 2023

As a doctrine, physicalism is committed to the assumption that everything is physical.

From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022