Idealism offers a more comprehensive and more parsimonious explanation of reality than materialism

[atanu]

I expect this poll to generate about 80-20 result in favour of materialism. But my point is that, like in politics, the opinions in most cases are not well reasoned out. I intend to explore the reasons for majority belief in materialistic worldview and hopefully persuade a few to consider the alternative 'Idealism'.

First, the terms involved are defined briefly below.

Idealism: Reality consists exclusively of mind and its contents.

Added for clarification
(Idealism - Wikipedia)
In philosophy, idealism is the group of metaphysical philosophies that assert that reality, or reality as humans can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing.

The term Mind may or may not be limited to an individual’s mind.

Realism: Reality exists outside and independent of mind;

Materialism entails realism but goes beyond it: it postulates not only that matter exists outside mind, but that mind itself is generated by matter.

Added for clarification: For this poll, please consider ‘material’ to mean ‘physical’ and ‘materialism’ to signify the more general term ‘physicalism’.​

Please record your reasons for your being a materialist or an idealist.

 

[Phaedrus]

Idealism:
the practice of forming or pursuing ideals, especially unrealistically.
PHILOSOPHY
any of various systems of thought in which the objects of knowledge are held to be in some way dependent on the activity of mind.


Materialism:
a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.
PHILOSOPHY
the doctrine that nothing exists except matter and its movements and modifications.

So I voted no. Therefore, that makes me a materialist.

 

[danieldemol]

I expect this poll to generate about 80-20 result in favour of materialism. But my point is that, like in politics, the opinions in most cases are not well reasoned out. I intend to explore the reasons for majority belief in materialistic worldview and hopefully persuade a few to consider the alternative 'Idealism'.

First, the terms involved are defined briefly below.

Idealism: Reality consists exclusively of mind and its contents.

Realism: Reality exists outside and independent of mind;

Materialism entails realism but goes beyond it: it postulates not only that matter exists outside mind, but that mind itself is generated by matter.​

Please record your reasons for your being a materialist or an idealist.

I would probably more closely fit realism than idealism or materialism, but you didn’t include it in your binary poll

 

[idav]

I lean more towards materialism but it really depends on how you want to define substance. I am not opposed to material all being light sound or thought but even then I imagine reality as a wave function which is actually both material and not material simultaneously.
Wave–particle duality - Wikipedia

 

[Desert Snake]

The definitions seem a bit absolute.

 

[Desert Snake]

Not sure how that definition of idealism makes sense.

 

[Desert Snake]

Or rather, your definition of idealism doesn't make sense.

 

[atanu]

Or rather, your definition of idealism doesn't make sense.

Let me explain it. In philosophy, idealism is the group of metaphysical philosophies that assert that reality, or reality as humans can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing.

Idealism - Wikipedia

 

[atanu]

I lean more towards materialism but it really depends on how you want to define substance. I am not opposed to material all being light sound or thought but even then I imagine reality as a wave function which is actually both material and not material simultaneously.
Wave–particle duality - Wikipedia

For this poll, material is physical and materialism is physicalism.

With this clarification, I will request you to reason out your choice.

 

[idav]

For this poll, material is physical and materialism is physicalism.

With this clarification, I will request you to reason out your choice.

It's neither and both.

 

[atanu]

I would probably more closely fit realism than idealism or materialism, but you didn’t include it in your binary poll

Okay. But why ‘realism’?

 

[atanu]

Idealism:
the practice of forming or pursuing ideals, especially unrealistically.
PHILOSOPHY
any of various systems of thought in which the objects of knowledge are held to be in some way dependent on the activity of mind.


Materialism:
a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.
PHILOSOPHY
the doctrine that nothing exists except matter and its movements and modifications.

So I voted no. Therefore, that makes me a materialist.

You have not included any reasoning as to why ‘materialism’ is your choice.

 

[danieldemol]

Okay. But why ‘realism’?

Because to me reality is all that exists, part of what exists is within the mind, but a significant portion of the dust of the universe exists outside and independently of the mind.

To me it seems self evident.

 

[Heyo]

According to your definitions I'm leaning more to materialism because I believe in an objective reality. The belief in reality is one of the axioms of science. You can't do science without it and the scientific method is the most successful tool invented by humans when it come to knowledge and problem solving.
But I also believe in the platonic "realm of ideals". I.e., I think that mathematics is discovered, not invented. Mathematics is not real but it is objective. All mathematicians agree on mathematical laws and they have been discovered independently by many cultures. We assume that aliens that could communicate with us will have discovered mathematics, too.

 

[Fool]

I expect this poll to generate about 80-20 result in favour of materialism. But my point is that, like in politics, the opinions in most cases are not well reasoned out. I intend to explore the reasons for majority belief in materialistic worldview and hopefully persuade a few to consider the alternative 'Idealism'.

First, the terms involved are defined briefly below.

Idealism: Reality consists exclusively of mind and its contents.

Added for clarification
(Idealism - Wikipedia)
In philosophy, idealism is the group of metaphysical philosophies that assert that reality, or reality as humans can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing.

The term Mind may or may not be limited to an individual’s mind.

Realism: Reality exists outside and independent of mind;

Materialism entails realism but goes beyond it: it postulates not only that matter exists outside mind, but that mind itself is generated by matter.

Added for clarification: For this poll, please consider ‘material’ to mean ‘physical’ and ‘materialism’ to signify the more general term ‘physicalism’.​

Please record your reasons for your being a materialist or an idealist.

as a spiritual being encased in a material thing, encased in mud, I have needs that must be met before I can focus on spiritual needs. if i got forced into this density, then i have to maintain my material existence; in order, to figure out why. if i came willingly into this material existence, then i still need to meet certain material needs at a minimum before being able to complete the mission i was sent on.


so creating a duality, difference between these two is not going to make me any more brahman than I ALREADY AM.

 

[Desert Snake]

Let me explain it. In philosophy, idealism is the group of metaphysical philosophies that assert that reality, or reality as humans can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing.

Idealism - Wikipedia

It seems like a mix of not necessarily inherent to each other ideas.

So, I'll go with realist on this, even though there are too many concepts there to be voting in that manner.

 

[atanu]

Because to me reality is all that exists, part of what exists is within the mind, but a significant portion of the dust of the universe exists outside and independently of the mind.

To me it seems self evident.

According to your definitions I'm leaning more to materialism because I believe in an objective reality. The belief in reality is one of the axioms of science......

So, I'll go with realist on this, even though there are too many concepts there to be voting in that manner.

I think that we have some misconceptions about implications of realism-materialism. Can we examine the situation?

According to REALISM, the real world is ‘some’ abstract realm of interacting electromagnetic fields that we cannot even visualize. Materialism entails realism and also postulates that not only matter exists outside mind, but that mind itself is generated by matter. According to materialism, what we experience every day is not the world as such, but a kind of brain-constructed ‘copy’ of the world.

Therefore, all reality we can ever know directly – is but an internal ‘copy’ of the ‘real reality.’ Materialism, thus, requires a doubling of all reality: it presupposes an abstract and unprovable ‘external’ universe next to the known, concrete, and undeniable universe of direct experience. The real world, according to current day materialism, is some abstract realm of interacting electromagnetic fields that we cannot even visualize.

As evolution favors physical survival, not per se the accuracy or completeness of internal representations, if materialism is right, then it cannot be trusted. Furthermore, if all that exists is matter, and if consciousness is somehow produced by the suitable arrangement of matter represented by the brain, then all subjective perception must only be residing in the brain. There is no phenomenal quality in the external-out there world.

To summarise. The explosive combination of the concept of realism (that there is an objective world out there) and the brain generated picture of that objective world may not be at all real.

 

[Heyo]

I think that we have some misconceptions about implications of realism-materialism. Can we examine the situation?
[...]
To summarise. The explosive combination of the concept of realism (that there is an objective world out there) and the brain generated picture of that objective world may not be at all real.

First of, you created the dichotomy of materialism/idealism. I only responded to that limited choice in saying that that I lean more to materialism given the choices and the definitions.
I think realism/idealism is not an either/or choice. You may call me an objectivist. Reality (the physical world) exists objectively because we can experience it and agree on its existence. The realm of ideals exists objectively because we can think it and agree on its existence. The realms are separated by the method we detect them and by the laws they follow.

 

[Desert Snake]

Going by your definitions, Im a 'realist'
Not a materialist, or a idealist.

Not sure if you are saying realism is materialism, or what. Im not a materialist, and idealism going by that definition, not at all.

So, you need to clarify if you consider realism to be "same' as materialism, which I don't going by those definitions.

 

[Desert Snake]

In other words, realism, agreed upon perception, yet not a "materialist", [which should be obvious, it seems.

Realism "reality", and materialism aren't the same thing. You dont need to be a materialist, to be a realist.