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