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Philosophy & the Paranormal

What is Materialism?

Michael Philips on the shaky foundations of the most popular philosophical theory of modern times.

Most academic philosophers these days will tell you, without hesitation, that they are materialists. Materialism asserts that everything is or can be explained in relation to matter. This would be straightforward enough if we had a clear and stable idea of matter. But do we?

Unfortunately, we don’t. There have been big changes since Descartes introduced his version of the mind/body problem in the 17th century.

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