(January 1, 2023 at 10:12 pm)polymath257 Wrote:(January 1, 2023 at 7:19 pm)Jehanne Wrote: Maybe physicalism would be a better term.
Yes, it would. But it is still rather vague. What, precisely, does it mean to say something is physical?
I would still argue that testability via observation is a far better criterion.
In my opinion, Physicalism is a statement that there are four fundamental forces (noting the unification of the electroweak), and nothing more at present, except, perhaps, a fifth fundamental force that could account for Dark Energy. If any additional forces beyond the Four or Five exist, they will someday be observed and modeled, and if they are never observed, it is almost surely due to the fact that they do not exist.