Materialism

The present study is not a dedicated critique of Harris, but more so a ‘review in passing.’ Harris happens to be the opposing voice one can utilize to engineer a dialogue, a dialogue that is paradigmatic for a relevant moral discussion between atheism and theism. The purpose of the current analysis is to display and meditate on the superiority of the Christian worldview’s understanding of moral truth as opposed to the materialistic alternative. If such a progression constitutes an apologetic argument, so be it; but the aim is to defend and commend the glory of Christian morality over and against materialistic imitations. The analysis will (1) summarize the specific materialistic morality of Sam Harris as found in his book The Moral Landscape, (2) critique it, and lastly (3) supply the superior Christian alternative.

Common to a number of descriptions new materialist theory relates to the reconceptualization of matter away from the “inertia” of Newtonian physics, and toward an energetic and dynamic theory of material itself (Bennett, Cheah, Coole & Frost, Coole, 2010). The theoretical understanding of material as “an active principle” (Bataille, 1930/1985; Bennett, 2010) is largely attributed to a nexus of thought around Quantum physics, which demonstrates that matter is energetic and infected with both space and the mysterious “dark matter” that exceeds every constitutional theory (Coole & Frost, 2010). As the dual reference above indicates, Georges Bataille proposed a theory of active materialism that he insisted should precede ontologies as a process by which theory might exceed both Idealism and Dialectical Materialism, instead conceiving of “matter as the thing in itself” (Bataille, 1930/1985).

Bataille argues for the inclusion of what he designates as “base material” in the development of materialist thought. While Bataille conceived of base material as socially and politically unacceptable or unpleasant matter encountered and produced by bodies, his idea could be reconceived of in reference to contemporary theoretical Physics, in which base matter, persists as “dark matter” (Coole & Frost, 2010). In theorising “dark matter” (which, as Coole and Frost report) constitutes a large percentage of the material we encounter as base material, this matter can be considered in relation to Bataille’s sovereign heterogeneity, where the heterogeneous or outcast position cannot be reconstituted by structures of language or known forms. It is also this dark matter that reserves and produces the energy that allows matter, in general, to be active.

In this paper, I will argue that base materialism, reconstituted as the mysterious “dark matter” and “dark energy” of the physical universe, resists the structuration of ontological theories and as such, is a strain of matter resistant to structural hierarchy and known form. This theory of base materialism as “dark matter” underpins a resistance to the restriction of social and physical homogeneity that we encounter as constituted bodies in the world.

New materialist and associated feminist thought is engaged with the reconceptualisation of matter away from the inert stability of Newtonian physics (as it implies, amongst other things, the immutability of biological determinism) and toward an energetic and dynamic theory of material itself (Bennett, Cheah, Coole & Frost, Coole, 2010). The theoretical understanding of material as “an active principle” (Bataille, 1930/1985; Bennett, 2010) is largely attributed to the dissemination of Quantum physics, which demonstrates that matter is energetic and infected with both space and the unknowable “dark matter” that exceeds constitutional theory and form (Coole & Frost, 2010). Coole and Frost write that “dark matter” (so designated by physics to reflect its resistance to classification) is the most common and pervasive substance that constitutes matter in the universe. It is necessary for the experience of mass and the phenomenon of gravity, and yet its existence remains only negatively defined (in that it must exist in order for these physical laws to operate) (Coole & Frost, 2010: 12).

Bataille argues for the inclusion of what he designates as “base material” in the development of materialist thought. While Bataille conceived of base material as socially and politically unacceptable or unpleasant matter encountered and produced by bodies, his conceptualisation of base material has clear parallels with the appearance of “dark matter”. In theorising “dark matter” (which, as Coole and Frost report) constitutes a large percentage of the material we encounter as base material, this matter can be considered in relation to Bataille’s sovereign heterogeneity, where the heterogeneous or outcast position cannot be reconstituted by structures of language or known forms. It is also this dark matter that reserves and produces the energy that allows matter, in general, to be active.

In this paper, I will argue that by conceiving of “dark matter” as theoretically analogous to Bataille’s base material, the notion of active materialism in Bataille’s work can be redeployed in communication with feminist new materialist thought in order reconsider the material of resistance by bodies to experiences of social and physical restriction.

The purpose of the present study is to explore the relative importance of certain socio-demographic variables, perceived physical and social attributes of the home and neighborhood for self-reported physical and mental health. The sample of the present study comprised 137 men and women (51.83% women and 48.17% men) ranging in age from 26 to 54 years selected randomly from shoppers visiting a crowded shopping plaza. A sociodemographic data sheet, scales to measure perceptions of the physical environment and neighborhood characteristics, and the SF-36 to assess physical and mental health components were used. Data were analyzed using multivariate analyses of variance, Pearson's correlation coefficients and multiple regression analysis. No age and gender differences in physical and mental health scores emerged (p < 0.05), but people who perceived their socio-economic status as low also reported lower total mental health scores (p < 0.05). No socioeconomic differences were noted on indices of physical health (p > 0.05). Correlation analysis revealed that negative perceptions of the interior home environment were associated negatively with physical and mental health scores (p < 0.05). Regression analysis indicated that perceived decay and disorganization in the home interior as well as perceived socioeconomic status accounted for a significant portion of the variance in mental health scores.

In this chapter of my dissertation, I want to problematize theoretical engagements with and ‘common sense’ understandings (Hall & O’Shea) of what I will argue are cultural practices saturated with neoliberal ideology that are premised on the foundation of exploitative capitalism; practices that, despite their surface critique of neoliberal capitalism, are not only implicated in, but actively reinforce the hegemony of exploitative capitalism. Under the larger label of what has popularly come to be know as the ‘sharing economy,’ I investigate car, home, commodity, and personal service sharing practices, platforms, and the discourses they are embedded in. In this chapter, I analyze online articles and especially reader comments, PR campaigns by AirBnB and other such ‘sharing’ sites, and the few academic works on the sharing economy that have been published thus far. These cultural practices and their reception in academic circles tend to be positive celebrations of a twenty-first century resistance to neoliberal capitalism’s pervasive dominance and its alienating, anti-communitarian ideology. Locating these practices as results of the larger ideological shifts of the ‘age of fracture’ (Rodgers), the last quarter of the twentieth century, I will investigate current celebrations of the possibilities of resistance and new forms of kinship and ownership that have been percolating through popular media and academic scholarship in order to show that while such practices draw attention to some of the negative ramifications of neoliberal capitalism, they are at the same time implicated in upholding its basic tenets.

  In his Book Kagaku no Sekai to Kokoro no Tetsugaku, Michio Kobayashi features on Descartes’ theory of minds as “subjective-active consciousness”, and defends it against the physicalist movement of philosophy of mind. I try to show that Kobayashi’s method has a difficulty for defending the existence of our mind because Descartes didn’t allow the scientific investigation of our mental experience from outside. In addition, Cartesian theory of mind cannot appropriately grasp the significance of “other minds”. Instead of Cartesian view, I propose the “mind in general” view, in which minds are open to our world and exists in our communication.