The Waning of Materialism

Given the pervasive influence of materialism in the Academy, the title of this book might initially come as something of a surprise. It is written by 23 philosophers who argue the case against materialism covering a number of approaches including arguments from conscious experience, unity and identity, intentionality and mental causation. The last part explains various alternatives to materialism. Right at the beginning of the book, the editors point out that prominent philosophers have had serious misgivings about the ultimate viability of materialism, but for many different reasons. There are of course quite a number of forms of materialism, including reductive and eliminative materialism and, more recently, supervenience. The papers are aimed more at technical philosophers, but some are accessible to the informed layman. A pervasive theme is that functionalism cannot provide an adequate account of qualia in conscious experience or of intentionality. This leads some writers to propose a property dualism. Looking through the bibliography, CD Broad and HH Price are nowhere to be seen. These contemporaries had the courage to incorporate the findings of psychical research into their philosophy. Despite its relevance to the undermining of materialism, this whole area is missing from the book, which is hardly surprising. However, it is interesting that such a volume has nevertheless appeared and that students will be exposed to a rigorous questioning of positions that are frequently taken for granted and passed on to the next generation without any examination of the presuppositions involved.