Spiritualism vs. Materialism

[Gambit]

It doesn't exist.

There is a reference frame in which it does exist, namely, the divine perspective. If we had a God's eye view of the world, everything would be happening all at once.

 

[LegionOnomaMoi]

It wasn't entirely straightforward. Is cause relative to the reference frame of the observer? Yes or no?

Sometimes. There is a reason to qualify, namely that it is true sometimes but not always (and that's without the qualification about particular models of causality or the nuances of causation).

There is a reference frame in which it does exist, namely, the divine perspective. If we had a God's eye view of the world, everything would be happening all at once.

The block universe. Sure. Arguably that makes free will impossible (and in fact it has been argued that special relativity makes free will impossible).

 

[Bunyip]

So I was just thinking that materialism would have to allow for non-physical things like concepts. Just not finding where this is explained though.

It is rarely explained because it resolves the challenge to materialism so categorically. Yes, materialism does allow for the existence of concepts and abstracts - and spirit, soul, consciousness are all concepts.

If not everything is physical doesn't that defeat materialism?

Nope, materialists do not deny that there are concepts and abstractions - which are not physical.

Dualism encompasses both. Even materialism has given way to physicalism.

I don't think that seeing a distinction between a bullet and the thought of a bullet is really dualism. Distinguishing between the material and the conceptual does not challenge materialism.

 

[muichimotsu]

Materialism is a bit too simplistic and easily misconstrued: physicalist is probably closer to what I am, the mind as an emergent property of physical materials interacting. In your mind, it might fit with materialism, but it seems to ignore that there are varieties within that which might be considered spiritual in some sense of the term. Pantheism, for example, or Christian materialism where God is divine dust of sorts.