Materialism is nonsensical II (Agency, Teleology and Will)

[3017Metaphysician]

Hello Philosophers!

Up for consideration is the continuation of the idea that materialism, by itself, remains nonsensical. As a 2-part continuation, a quick review of other ‘things’ that involve human 'qualities' of conscious existence include but are not limited to Agency, Teleology and the Will. This most certainly seems in opposition to the exclusivity of material entities or 'quantities', which of course are logically necessary for objects to exist. With respect to such material quantities themselves, consider how material entities cause one’s ability to see. Generally, we have material processes that exclusively allow for a human to have sight. In itself, or in principle, there is no special mechanism beyond material processes (though photons themselves are not completely 'see-able'). This stuff is pretty straight forward.

But as philosophers, or even for the layperson, it surely begs other questions relating to the why's of that ability to see, namely purpose, sentience, and other human condition things all relating to basic human cause and effect. In this case, because the ability to see the way that we see is causally linked to the existence of animate objects such as the human animal, it becomes excruciatingly obvious sight has some sort of purpose.

As a simple example, why does one want to see v. being blind? Well, we want or Will to see for many reasons as the most obvious would be to provide for a sense of happiness, joy or feelings of pleasure (see Kant’s aesthetic philosophy). Or, think in terms of the typical subject-object dynamic of one’s Being. As sentient Beings, we need to feel good about stuff. Pretty simple right? If there is consensus that human sight does indeed have a existential or intrinsic purpose, how does that relate to material objects without a purpose? And what about inanimate objects, or otherwise material objects and/or inert matter, do they ‘feel’? Of course not. Perhaps the Materialist or Physicalist can bridge the divide, and bring together a causal linkage between quality and quantity, mind and matter, inanimate to animate, so on and so forth. Since their belief system seems to preclude things like Teleology, Agency and the human Will (the human condition) to be, the exclusivity of Materialism remains nonsensical.

As such, here’s the basic 101 of the foregoing, relative to human conscious existence, self-awareness and causation (Agency, Teleology and Will).

Teleology is a reason or an explanation for something which serves as a function of its end, its purpose, or its goal, as opposed to something which serves as a function of its cause.[4] A purpose that is imposed by a human use, such as the purpose of a fork to hold food, is called extrinsic.[3]
Agency is contrasted to objects reacting to natural forces involving only unthinking deterministic processes. In this respect, agency is subtly distinct from the concept of free will, the philosophical doctrine that our choices are not the product of causal chains, but are significantly free or undetermined [see quantum indeterminism]. Human agency entails the claim that humans do in fact make decisions and enact them on the world. How humans come to make decisions, by free choice or other processes, is another issue.

The capacity of a human to act as an agent is personal to that human, though considerations of the outcomes flowing from particular acts of human agency for us and others can then be thought to invest a moral component into a given situation wherein an agent has acted, and thus to involve moral agency. If a situation is the consequence of human decision making, persons may be under a duty to apply value judgments to the consequences of their decisions, and held to be responsible for those decisions. Human agency entitles the observer to ask should this have occurred? in a way that would be nonsensical in circumstances lacking human decisions-makers

When we become conscious of ourself, we realize that our essential qualities are endless urging, craving, striving, wanting, and desiring. These are characteristics of that which we call our Will.

In almost all early cosmological theories, the world was likened not to a machine but to a living organism. Physical objects were endowed with purposes, much as animals seem to behave purposively. A vestige of this thinking survives today, when people talk about water "seeking out" its lowest level, or refer to the end of a compass needle as "north-seeking." The idea of a physical system seeking out, being directed, or being drawn toward some final goal is known as "teleology." The Greek philosopher Aristotle, distinguished between four sorts of causes: Material Cause, Formal Cause, Efficient Cause, and Final Cause. These categories are often illustrated by the example of a house. What causes house to come into being? First there is the Material Cause, which is here identified with the bricks and other stuff from which the house is made. Then there is the Formal Cause, which is the form or shape that the material is arranged in. Third comes the Efficient Cause, the means whereby the material is fashioned into its form (in this case the builder). Lastly there is the Final Cause, the purpose of the thing. In the case of a house this purpose might involve a pre-existing blueprint toward which the builder works.

Socrates here argues that while the materials that compose a body are necessary conditions for its moving or acting in a certain way, they nevertheless cannot be the sufficient condition for its moving or acting as it does. For example,[12] if Socrates is sitting in an Athenian prison, the elasticity of his tendons is what allows him to be sitting, and so a physical description of his tendons can be listed as necessary conditions or auxiliary causes of his act of sitting.[13][14] However, these are only necessary conditions of Socrates' sitting. To give a physical description of Socrates' body is to say that Socrates is sitting, but it does not give any idea why it came to be that he was sitting in the first place. To say why he was sitting and not not sitting, it is necessary to explain what it is about his sitting that is good, for all things brought about (i.e., all products of actions) are brought about because the actor saw some good in them. Thus, to give an explanation of something is to determine what about it is good. Its goodness is its actual cause—its purpose, telos or "reason for which”.

How does Materialism, the view that all that exists is ultimately physical, reconcile things like Agency, Teleology and the human Will to be?

[3017Metaphysician]

CORRECTION:

In the opening paragraph, referring to "no special mechanism to see", refers to a secondary process. The primary process that includes biologically coded information, which is logically necessary, is indeed a special causal mechanism. Or if you prefer, a meta-physical language of instructions for self-organization.

[Count Lucanor]

Hello Philosophers!

Up for consideration is the continuation of the idea that materialism, by itself, remains nonsensical. As a 2-part continuation...

As I said to you in that other thread, you first need to get a better understanding of what materialness and materialism entail, before discussing it. Otherwise, your thread remains as just a long and nonsensical straw man argument.

[3017Metaphysician]

Hello Philosophers!

Up for consideration is the continuation of the idea that materialism, by itself, remains nonsensical. As a 2-part continuation...

As I said to you in that other thread, you first need to get a better understanding of what materialness and materialism entail, before discussing it. Otherwise, your thread remains as just a long and nonsensical straw man argument.

Thanks CL!

Please feel free to revise Materialism to fit into your model, if you have one!