more from this thinker     |     more from this text

Single Idea 6551

[filed under theme 27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 4. Standard Model / a. Concept of matter ]

Full Idea

An object is specifically physical if it figures in explanations and descriptions of features of ordinary non-living matter, as in current physics; it is more generally physical if it is simply located in space-time.

Gist of Idea

'Physical' means either figuring in physics descriptions, or just located in space-time

Source

William Lycan (Consciousness [1987], 8.5)

Book Ref

Lycan,William G.: 'Consciousness' [MIT 1995], p.96

A Reaction

This gives a useful distinction when trying to formulate a 'physicalist' account of the mind, where type-type physicalism says only the 'postulates of physics' can be used, whereas 'naturalism' about the mind uses the more general concept.

The 20 ideas with the same theme [concept of matter emerging in modern physics]:

15311 Attraction or repulsion are not imparted to matter, but actually constitute it [Priestley]
17402 Mendeleev saw three principles in nature: matter, force and spirit (where the latter seems to be essence) [Mendeleev, by Scerri]
21706 At first matter is basic and known by sense-data; later Russell says matter is constructed [Russell, by Linsky,B]
6470 Matter is the limit of appearances as distance from the object diminishes [Russell]
7547 Matter requires a division into time-corpuscles as well as space-corpuscles [Russell]
7551 Matter is a logical construction [Russell]
17532 An atom's stability after collisions needs explaining (which Newton's mechanics can't do) [Heisenberg]
17537 Position is complementary to velocity or momentum, so the whole system is indeterminate [Heisenberg]
17551 It was formerly assumed that electromagnetic waves could not be a reality in themselves [Heisenberg]
20626 Modern theories of matter are grounded in heat, work and energy [Close]
6551 'Physical' means either figuring in physics descriptions, or just located in space-time [Lycan]
9574 'Gunk' is an individual possessing no parts that are atoms [Chihara]
20654 Only four particles are needed for matter: up and down quark, electron, electron-neutrino [Watson]
14900 In physics, matter is an emergent phenomenon, not part of fundamental ontology [Ladyman/Ross]
14937 That the universe must be 'made of' something is just obsolete physics [Ladyman/Ross]
17411 If all elements are multiples of one (of hydrogen), that suggests once again that matter is unified [Scerri]
17420 The stability of nuclei can be estimated through their binding energy [Scerri]
24161 Thermodynamics sees nature as a continuous flow of energy, as radiation and as substance [Baggott]
20465 Nature has three aspects: granularity, indeterminacy, and relations [Rovelli]
22630 If particles have decay rates, they can't really be elementary, in the sense of indivisible [Ingthorsson]