Materialism, Morality, and the Afterlife

Materialism, Morality, and the Afterlife. Randall Niles looks at IS vs. OUGHT, and the immaterial nature of conscience in a supposedly Materialistic, Deterministic Universe.

Materialism can refer either to the simple preoccupation with the material world, as opposed to intellectual or spiritual concepts, or to the theory that physical matter is all there is. This theory is far more than a simple focus on material possessions. It states that everything in the universe is matter, without any true spiritual or intellectual existence. Materialism can also refer to a doctrine that material success and progress are the highest values in life. This doctrine appears to be prevalent in western society today.

Materialism as a philosophy is held by those who maintain that existence is explainable solely in material terms, with no accounting of spirit or consciousness. Individuals who hold to this belief see the universe as a huge device held together by pieces of matter functioning in subjection to naturalistic laws. Since materialism denies all concepts of Special Creation, it relies on the Theory of Evolution to explain itself, making beliefs in materialism and evolution interdependent.

The first question this worldview should cause most of us to ask is, "If all that exists is matter only, where did the natural laws that govern it come from?" New scientific discoveries in the areas of biological complexity, cosmological design, quantum physics, and information theory bring these materialistic assumptions into doubt. A massive quantity of evidence demonstrates that the universe and its material aspects are connected by a network of energy, design and information. We now see much more than matter - we see the result of conscious creation.

It seems the existence of universal morality contradicts the purely material universe. It seems this reality also plays out after death. Is there spiritual accountability for moral actions in the physical world? Please visit http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/materialism.htm for more!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Materialism
• Determinism
• Naturalism
• Morality
• Afterlife
• Conscience
• Spiritual
• Immaterial
• Supernatural
• You Tube
• Video
• Randall Niles

[TypicalEnglish]

reflect7 please reply to my message

it makes sense to discuss alternative views to reach that bit closer to "enlightenment" as it were.

If you don't reply then I hope the epthany of what i said wasn't too hard hitting :P

[reflect7]

@TypicalEnglish Sorry, I thought I did reply... My question was how, when, and why did we go from a survival-based species to a cooperative social-based species? Matter-acting-on-matter evolution doesn't account for this rational/conscious shift to community/protecting the weak/altruism/love/equality/mi­nority rights... At a slight level, selfish cooperation can be explained by evolutionary theory, but it's not even close to the level we support/promote as humans today.

[TypicalEnglish]

He is wrong. it is not "how I'LL get the prey" or "how I'LL get ahead"... we are a social species, it benefits our whole existence to cooperate. This is shown in the Prisonners Dilemma.

[reflect7]

@TypicalEnglish WHY? Where did your concept of "social species" come from? This doesn't mesh with Darwinian evolution at all --

[setnoset]

@SERSOVI hmm.. it can easily explain such things as morality, duty, good and evil. That is a big claim... tell me more.

[frabjous79]

Has this guy even tried to read up on the evolutionary accounts of morality out there? Does he know anything about group selection rather than individual selection? If not, why does he spout this nonsense?

And even if evolution couldn't explain it, how could it possibly indicate an afterlife? The reason to do what's right is that it's right, not to be rewarded for it. Now THAT's personal selfishness. This guy seems to confuse his own position with the one he's attacking.

[StygianDysnomia]

*facepalm* biology is not moral philosophy...

[Killer0fTheSun]

So far ten seconds in and this guy is full of fucking shit...not watching anymore.

[SERSOVI]

@setnoset Sure, you are right about the paradigmas, but the thing is that it keeps "being valid" as long as its predictions are acurate. The current materialistic paradigma can easily explain such things as morality, duty, good and evil. And even more, it es explainable though the evolution theory.

[OpenAirAtheist]

@setnoset Are you aware of anthing other than matter and energy? If so what is it? Not its function or character. Its ontology, its substance. Until you answer you havent made a claim I can honesty accept or reject.

[setnoset]

@OpenAirAtheist that is if you assume that a thing has to be material, then your conclusion is obivously valid. but all you said is that if we assume materialism, we imply materialism.

[setnoset]

@SERSOVI study some history of science before you assume simply because many scientists do not believe in the immaterial, it does not exist. It is true, materialistic science is our current paradigm. But a paradigm, as highlighted by Thomas Kuhn, can be wrong. The paradigm highly affects school textbooks, and claims such as yours come with no surprise. It is only natural that since we never hear in documentaries, scientific journals, of immaterialistic theories, we should assume they dont exist.

[14sJakeB190]

I like your message, but the Materialist view is just called morality is an evolutionary trait that helped us as a species move ahead or something like that.

[SERSOVI]

Study some science befoe you speak from "oughts".