physicalism

You can’t have it both ways. Either, this is a strictly physical world and everything that exists can be explained materially, or there is something beyond the physical, the metaphysical, as it were, that also is part of our reality.

In a world of physicalism (only physical world), any “true” morality would be non-existent. Helpful or harmful behavior would only be in the “eye” of the beholder. If one were trying to judge whether something is right or wrong, it would simply depend on who was doing the judging. If it was a matter of actual legal work, then whoever has the power decides. In any case, never would there be a values judgment made. Does this match with reality?

Test yourself out with this. Picture a documentary on the hunting skills of the lion. You are watching a lion stalk a zebra. You see him run the zebra down, and pounce! The lion kills the zebra and starts tearing away at the body. What is your values judgment of the lion?

Chances are you didn’t sense your blood pressure rise or get too outraged by this. Lions eat zebras. Now let’s imagine a shift. You are looking outside your window, and you see a pack of coyotes attacking your dog or cat or other beloved pet. If you don’t have a pet bear with me. What would your reaction be if your pet is being torn apart? How would you react to the coyotes?

How do you explain your neurons responding so differently to basically the same act? How do you begin to explain using physicalism?