Matter? Philosophy?

Question

Title: Matter is a meaningless concept. How can I argue for and agaisnt with that title? I don't even understand it.

Answer 1

I don't understand it either. As a mystic, I do know that whatever manifests about me....has been chosen, attracted or created by me. Ok, not everything seems to have been. Did I create a mountain, a rock, a waterfall? No, but I attracted the moment they appeared. See now as you read this you can picture those things in your mind if you want to. Nameless implies that the actual experience of those things is imagination??? The experience is very different than the imagined.



Matter itself is composed of particles, ideas and whatever not. Thing is how do a million people agree on what a mountain looks like? Not one person sees from the same perspective. So matter, matters. It's ancient telepathic glue that hold ideas in place and space.



Every grain of sand has it's own consciousness. A table appears an inanimate object. It's supposed to. But we as a race of humans have applied meaning to the table. We've built them out of various alchemical, energetic responses, in many shapes throughout space and time. We all agree, this is a table, no matter it's variety.



And mountains or pyramids or volcanoes or what have you. We know the difference. Be it time, purpose or location....we know a mountain from a river. Some of us know how pyramids were built, some of us do not.



Matter is not meaningless, we use symbols to communicate. And we do it telepathically. Universally agreed upon, and layered in understanding.

Answer 2

I think you should go for the whole idea of concepts as a whole. Every word we say, or think are indeed meaningless. You can know this from the fact that many creatures including humans are able to survive without them. Therefore no concept has any relevance, it is just a mental exercise of trying to explain what already is. What meaning is there is that? It is our own idea, where is there any truth or meaning. Matter as a concept was of no important before it was pondered, so why would it be important after. This goes for everything.



We can see, feel, hear, touch...matter. It is all we know ourselves to be...excluding "being" whatever that is. Which is what we really are.



Until we know the basis of what we actually are, everything we find out, may have practical uses but there will be no actual facts, no truth, no nothing. Just information, we use to make up, and gather more information. We can say we are doing something. Figuring something out. Are we? Have we?



Anyway just destroy the whole concept of concepts. Not sure if this is for a class or what...

Answer 3

Matter is one of the most important subjects in philosophy, after Being and Other. If matter has Being, it is not meaningless; and if so, then some matter must be Other than what one is studying.



Go to the library and get Volume 3 of the Great Books of the Western World. Or search the library for Volume 2 of the Syntopicon (they're the same thing.)



Volume 2 and 3 of the Syntopicon are invaluable for understanding basic subjects. Vol.3 contains Matter, about 12 pages with many references.



The Syntopicon is my go-to set of books. The Great Books is 63 volumes I think, and it's not online except for an explanation.

Answer 4

Matter? Philosophy?

Title: Matter is a meaningless concept. How can I argue for and agaisnt with that title? I don't even understand it.



~~~ Before arguing the question, there are certain preliminary procedures, in philosophical thought.

One is to understand the question.

That first requires the understanding and clarification of the terms used in the statement.

''Matter' must be clearly defined.

At what point is something considered not-material?

At what exact and clear point is there some 'boundary' to be found?

Science has shown us that there is no such point, that the basic 'stuff' of a rock, is no different than the basic stuff of a dream, or an imaginary unicorn!

Or the sun!

Or me!



Now we move on to the 'meaning'.

All 'concepts' exist in the imagination, 'thought'!

Thus all 'meaning' also exists solely in the imagination of the beholder!

Like 'Beauty'!

It is a matter od Perspective.

I can look at a falling leaf and imagine meaning that you cannot dream of!

Someone else observes that leaf, draws a blank, finds no 'feelings' of understanding, no 'meaning'.

It remains the same leaf!

The error is identifying the 'meaning' with the 'object' observed; in this case, a simple falling leaf!



Another problem is the 'concept'.



[kon-sept]



noun

1. a general notion or idea; conception.

2. an idea of something formed by mentally combining all its characteristics or particulars; a construct.

3. a directly conceived or intuited object of thought.



By definition, a concept is a thought structure, a 'thing', like the falling leaf.

The 'meaning' is not in the concept, it is in the eye (thoughts/imagination) of the observer.

So there can exist no such 'object' as a 'meaningless concept'!

A 'concept must be neutral of 'meaning'.

It is a matter of Perspective, and;



Every Perspective is unique every moment!



"For every Perspective, there is an equal and opposite Perspective!" - The First Law of Soul Dynamics (Book of Fudd)



"The complete Universe (Reality/Truth/God/'Self!'/Tao/Brahman... or any feature herein...) can be completely defined/described as the synchronous sum-total of all Perspectives!" - Book of Fudd

ALL INCLUSIVE!!!



'Matter' can be a meaningless concept in the metaphorical sense that, ultimately, 'matter' is no different than 'non-matter', which renders it, scientifically, philosophically, a 'meaningless' concept, due to it's subjective vagueness and 'long roots back into historical ignorance'! And false assumptions.



"All statements are true in some sense, false in some sense, meaningless in some sense, true and false in some sense, true and meaningless in some sense, false and meaningless in some sense, and true and false and meaningless in some sense." -Robert Anton Wilson



"There are no whole truths: all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil." - Alfred North Whitehead



"You don't need to take drugs to hallucinate; improper language can fill your world with phantoms and spooks of many kinds."

-Robert A. Wilson



Well, that's probably the best lesson in philosophical examination, that you'll get on that class! *__-

Answer 5

I agree with you since I do not know where the context of this phrase came from.



It might well come from The three dialogues of Hylas and Philonous (see first link from UC Berkeley)

The dialogues come from 3 parts



Dialogue 1: Matter is inconceivable.

Dialogue 2: Matter plays no functional role in explanation.

Dialogue 3: Idealism is consistent with everyday experience.



It is a fascinating read. From what I gather it's conclusion is "how we perceive the world" in our minds has more import to us than what happens to us in the world. It's about an attitude of philosophy that energizes us to affect the world.

Answer 6

Hello Rabastian dear, matter? Philosophy?

Philosophy is to realize that matter is just for exposure

Matter does exist so as its philosophy is to be realized

These two become possible only when you realize you own self. All the best.

Answer 7

Yes. It is a good question. I appreciate your sincere efforts.



My mind also incessantly works like a devil's factory. But I try to control. Mind has the general tendency to oscillate, distort or distract the objective world. I certainly used to think of the world along those lines, but early on I found it difficult to identify differences between "soul", "spirit", "mind", and "energy". Knowing that energy is related to matter (E=mc²), it wasn't hard to come to the conclusion that there couldn't be as much separation between the body and the mind as many people seemed to believe.



So then I started learning philosophy, and I no longer believe in (Dwaitic philosophy) i.e. dualism, in the slightest. Be an advaitic philosopher.

Answer 8

I must disagree with Hence on this one. It is true, all concepts are abstractions/created in the minds of man. It is also true that no concept is needed to live(ex. vegetation, fungi, mold and single celled organisms can thrive with ought a individual thought. It, however, is a false claim when saying concepts have no meaning. If concepts are paragraphs, ideas and thoughts would be sentences and meaning would be the words. Ironically, despite that being an example, all words are formed using concepts.



To answer your question +Rabastian. Matter is not meaningless, but it is counterintuitive; In other words, the concepts goes against its own meaning. As of to date there is no ONE "true" definition for the term because, like the concept of reality, its definition depends heavily on ones perspective. According to researchers in the latest studies regarding matter, matter consist of atoms, which are measurable in a 3-D space. Atoms however consist of particle which are not measurable or fully observable in a 3-D space.

Matter can therefore be considered as one of two things, A: all things that exist and have a measurable mass/form or B: all things that exist and have measurable mass to SOME UNCERTAIN EXTENT.

Answer 9

Is there anything to my idea of an objective physical fact (let's say, this keyboard in front of me) OTHER THAN my perceptions of the keyboard? Or, to change the question a bit -- if I think the keyboard is something more than my perceptions of it, does that "something more" simply amount to the permanent possibility of more such sensations?



If we say the keyboard is made up of atoms or other imperceptible entities, what does THAT mean? Are those concepts just ways of helping me predict and control the keyboard?



These are all the questions that arise out of the Berkeleyan philosophy of immaterialism which you are referencing here.

Answer 10

If you fall from a height into a fireman's net, you will likely think that the matter the net is made out of is not a meaningless concept, imo. Same thing if someone causes a small piece of dense matter to strike your body at velocity.

Answer 11

the meaning of matter is not meaningless in many ways, n 1: subject of interest pl 2 : circumstances 3 : trouble 4 : physical substance vb :be important. define by Webster's dictionary so what matters to all by definition I see 4 out of 5 that should matter unless you are troubled

Answer 12

I cannot imagine how physics subjects keep ending up in the philosophy section. We understand matter quite well; how could you describe the essential building blocks of the visible universe as "meaningless"?



We know that matter is composed of molecules and they of atoms, that atoms are composed of subatomic particles (quite a number of them) including protons, electrons, quarks, bosons, leptons, etc, etc.



We understand that it's the activity of the Higgs boson that gives these particles mass, else the universe would be nothing but a diffuse mass of subatomic particles.



Again, why would one argue that matter is "meaningless"?

Answer 13

I'm with you.

You can only argue against. Who the hell doesn't believe that matter is simply a given fact?

If this is a school assignment, even for a philosophy class it's a stupid question.

Answer 14

What's the matter? Philosophy got you confused between what matters and what doesn't? Don't worry. It has us all that way.

Answer 15

Ask the person making this claim to describe their arm without resorting to some synonym for "matter". I think you'll see a lot of hand-waving and smoke-screening and some discomfort from being challenged.



To what extent does such a notion arise from exposure to college professors who have latched onto a point of view and spend their careers attempting to convince others that only their view is "reasonable" (that is, irrational)?



Thinking about such things is interesting and necessary to create your own world-view. But beware of passively accepting such notions without putting them through a "reality filter".

Answer 16

I think, Because, We are Mattering the Matter With All Our "Understanding" of Our Perceived Thoughts, Things and the Actions, When We are Moving With the Philosophical "Pacification of Acceptance of Everything", Matter Itself Dissolved Leaving the "Vaccum", So, Matter is Mattering "Meaningless".

Answer 17

MATTER= the state I live in, but not originally from here. these people have big time esp. Matter. They can move matter from one location to another without touching it. Another view is useing the word as a MATTER of fact, but in this state MATTER from one location to another, matter is'nt meaningless but meaningful. Good luck as a MATTER of fact. Mike

Answer 18

Matter is geometrized energy. Energy is at its basis not comprehended by science. Would suggest arguing that matter is a convenient level of energy understood by humans as atomic in nature.

"Atoms" are mostly "empty" space (that is, space filled by light too virtual to count as "real"), and the 1% of an atom that is "solid" is found to be ~99% gluonic energy fields, with small amounts of points known as quarks and electrons.

Related: "The Self-Aware Universe," "God at the Speed of Light," "Light Is a Living Spirit."

Answer 19

Why that confusing it's bot