Christian Physicalism: on the Frontiers of Orthodoxy Anthropology and Analytic Philosophy of Mind

Abstract

This article attempts to develop Christian Physicalism within the boundaries of Orthodoxy theology, and it also offers an assessment of their conceptual compat­ibility. Christian Physicalism is the result of the application of the physicalist ap­proach in the analytic philosophy of mind to the circle of problems of Analytic Theology. This is a thesis postulating the physical character of the soul. It im­plies anthropological monophysitism because it holds that body and soul have the same nature. Orthodoxy Theology generally operates within the framework of ancient philosophy while Christian Physicalism is the crown of the contempo­rary analytic tradition. Comparison of these two types of discourses is possible since Christian Physicalism it do not touch the dogmatized areas of Orthodoxy Theology. However, it implies some substantial consequences both for the whole of Christian Anthropology and for the Chalcedonian Christology in many re­spects proceeding from it. In particular, difficulties arise in explaining human posthumous experience, the hypostatic identity of Christ, and trichotomous an­thropological models. Moreover, there is not clear whether physicalists’ views on these questions are compatible with the Christian worldview at all. The latter characterized by the idea of the personal and phenomenal character of human ex­perience. The main question, therefore, is what kind of explanation of these at­tributes does Christian Physicalism offer? The theoretical speculations of Chris­tian Physicalism go against not only the beliefs of common-sense but also the strong intuitions of a religious worldview. But the point is not so much in the ter­minology of analytical metaphysics, as in the very human way of describing the world. Trying to think rationally about God, we use concepts designed to de­scribe the facts of the physical world, which inevitably leads to a biasing of our picture of the world.