Physicalist Supremacism

The belief that physicalism—the view that everything that exists is physical (or supervenes on the physical)—is the supreme metaphysical truth, superior to any form of dualism, idealism, or emergentism. The physicalist supremacist dismisses mental causation, consciousness, and intentionality as either illusions or “nothing but” physical processes, often without engaging with the arguments against reduction. They treat physicalism as the default for any educated person and view non‑physicalists as confused or unscientific.

Example: “He insisted that love was ‘just neurotransmitters’ and that any other view was unscientific—physicalist supremacism, reducing human experience to its physical correlates.”

Physicalist Supremacism by Dumu The Void April 18, 2026

Physicalist Dogmatism

The uncritical, unquestioning acceptance of physicalism as simply “how reality works,” without awareness that physicalism is a philosophical position with significant challenges. The physicalist dogmatist treats mental states as unproblematically physical, dismisses the explanatory gap as irrelevant, and refuses to engage with arguments from anti‑reductionist philosophers. Their dogmatism prevents them from seeing the limits of their own worldview.

Example: “She said ‘of course the mind is the brain’ and changed the subject when asked about qualia—physicalist dogmatism, treating a contested claim as settled.”

Physicalist Orthodoxy

The dominant, institutionalized set of physicalist beliefs and practices within mainstream neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and cognitive science, enforced through funding priorities, journal standards, and professional advancement. Physicalist orthodoxy determines what research programs are considered serious, what hypotheses are testable, and who gets to be called a “mind scientist.” It often marginalizes non‑physicalist approaches (e.g., property dualism, panpsychism) as unscientific, even when they are empirically equivalent. It shapes the very boundaries of acceptable inquiry.

Example: “The journal rejected her paper on integrated information theory as ‘not physicalist enough’—physicalist orthodoxy, using metaphysical criteria to judge empirical work.”

Physicalist Dogmatism by Dumu The Void April 18, 2026

Physicalist Fanaticism

An obsessive, uncritical devotion to physicalism, where the fanatic attacks any suggestion that consciousness, meaning, or value might not be fully reducible to physics. Physicalist fanatics often rely on promissory materialism (the hope that physics will eventually explain everything) and dismiss current failures as temporary. They can become hostile to philosophy of mind, phenomenology, and even some areas of psychology that do not conform to a strict physicalist framework.

Example: “When she raised the hard problem of consciousness, he shouted ‘neuroscience will solve it!’—physicalist fanaticism, substituting faith in future science for present argument.”

Physicalist Fundamentalism

A rigid, literalist adherence to physicalism as an absolute doctrine, treating any non‑physicalist claim as automatically false regardless of evidence or argument. The physicalist fundamentalist often relies on a simplified reading of physics (e.g., “the world is made of particles in fields”) and rejects interpretations of quantum mechanics that challenge physicalism. They treat physicalism as a proven fact, not a metaphysical stance, and excommunicate those who question it.

Example: “He claimed that ‘physics has proven dualism false’—physicalist fundamentalism, ignoring that physics doesn’t address consciousness at all.”

Physicalist Fanaticism by Dumu The Void April 18, 2026

Physicalist Defaultism

The philosophical bias that assumes physicalism (the view that everything is physical or supervenes on the physical) is the default, correct, or only rational ontology. It treats non‑physicalist positions—dualism, idealism, panpsychism—as automatically suspect, requiring extraordinary evidence, while physicalism is accepted without proof. Physicalist defaultism often appears in scientific and philosophical discourse as an unstated background assumption, making it difficult even to formulate alternative ontologies. It conflates “methodological physicalism” (a useful research strategy) with “metaphysical physicalism” (a claim about what exists).

Example: “He dismissed panpsychism as ‘obviously wrong’ without argument—physicalist defaultism, treating his own metaphysical commitment as the neutral starting point.”

Physicalist Defaultism by Abzugal April 18, 2026

Physicalist Fanaticism

A close relative of materialist fanaticism, asserting that the only real entities are those described by physics, and that all other sciences (biology, psychology, sociology) are ultimately reducible to physical laws. The physicalist fanatic dismisses higher‑level explanations as placeholders, insists that mental states are just brain states, and rejects emergentism or pluralism. This stance ignores the fact that even in physics, reduction is difficult; in complex systems, higher‑level explanations may be irreducible. Physicalist fanaticism is common in discussions of consciousness and free will, where it dismisses subjective experience as “unreal.”

Example: “He claimed that pain is ‘just C‑fiber firing’ and that the experience of suffering is irrelevant—physicalist fanaticism, mistaking a correlate for a reduction.”

Physicalist Fanaticism by Abzugal May 2, 2026

physicalize 

To reconstitute a virtual computer system or server onto physical equipment when you realize that the virtualization technology sucks.

I had to physicalize the desktop because the VDI project went bust!!

physicalize by Technocrat June 5, 2014

Physicaliation

The act of threatening, beginning or breaking out a fight or act of physical violence

Despite the fact that she got caught, he was the one committing physicaliation.

Physicaliation by Moant November 17, 2021