An Argument against Physicalism

Excerpts from the Paper

An Argument against Physicalism
Abstract: Physicalism – more specifically
supervenience
physicalism – is not a tenable position due to its inability to deal successfully with the concept of a non-physical entity (God).
Supervenience
physicalism posits that everything in the world is physical. However, this form of physicalism also allows for the existence of a non-physical being, existing within a separate and distinct category. The exception is unsatisfactory because it suggests that physicalism is using the idea as an effective way to deal with a major portion of the world that it cannot yet explain.
Physicalism is a broad philosophical term, with its meaning being dependent on the context in which it is used. Therefore, before any...

.....s used because it is one of the more general ones, and thus allows for the foundational deficiencies of physicalism to be seen clearly.
Supervenience
physicalism states that everything in our world is physical. Such a claim is easily enough understood. However, the case of the necessary non-physical being poses a problem. The reason is, this non-physical being (God) is problematically allowed in the
physicalist
conception of the world. The allowance of the non-physical being causes the foundations of physicalism to be effectively undermined.
Works Cited
Stoljar
, Daniel, “Physicalism.” The Stanford
Encyclopedia
of Philosophy (Fall 2009 Edition), Edward N.
Zalta
(ed.). <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2009/entries/physicalism/>.