Conatus: REVISED EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

C O N A T U S

Quantum theory has led us to see that this division leads to paradox. Reality seems affected by the very act of making an observation. There is perhaps no such thing as a detached observer. Perhaps thought and matter are merely aspects of a greater underlying reality. If this greater reality could be understood then it might be that the paradoxes thrown up by quantum physics can be resolved.

If it is believed that there is only matter in the universe then this is described as ‘materialism’. If, on the other hand, we include for physical forces, time and space — and currently we seem to have to — then the term ‘physicalism’ is often deployed. Both the materialist and the physicalist share the belief that there is nothing supernatural about the universe and that consciousness plays no part in how the universe is structured. The desire for particles seems insatiable! Physicalists secretly long to be materialists!

The fundamental particles and the forces that are currently known seem a bit arbitrary. Why these particles, we could ask, and why these forces? So there is always a yearning to discover a yet-more fundamental layer of matter, together with the rules that would explain how our familiar world of particles and forces came about. This is one variety of ‘structuralism’. Modern-day variations of structuralism seem to take inspiration from computers, where ‘bits’ can be made to take on any number of different functions as the ‘structure’ of computer programmes allows. And, of course, there can be many layers in this

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