What philosophical evidence is there against believing in non-physical entities?

[joseph_]

Materialism is dead nowadays as a serious philosophical theory. I think the Kantian realization that the world is dependent on our senses causes us to to doubt that we can contain the world in language or our thoughts. Science has not disproved the existence of other dimensions.


Why would people be unwilling to acknowledge the possibility that spiritual entities exist? I talk to them every day and they talk back to me, using English words and language. I am sure this is real and most societies have had some sort of concept of this. Why would people be unwilling to acknowledge there could be other life besides human life?

[Silver]

Philosophy is not an actual science, dear.

[Arkilogue]

Fear and hubris for some, "ain't got no time fo dat" for others.

[LadyForCamus]

Why would anyone willingly accept such a claim without evidence?

[joseph_]

Philosophy is not an actual science, dear.

Well maybe not, but philosophy establishes the definition of what science is based on argument and reason, rather than a magisterial argument (like citing a Scientific Academy's definition) which is based on an argument from authority.

Try to establish the bounds of science inside of the methods of one discipline of science and you will fail.

---

Why would anyone willingly accept such a claim without evidence?

But there is evidence, virtually all human societies have records and testimonies of people who had contact with spiritual entities. This is universal. Why be hostile to it?

Why not seek it out yourself? You can make contact with another type of life, I do it every day. I promise you it is real.

I am not asking you to believe me, I'm asking you to seek it out yourself because virtually all societies have testimony evidence and there is zero evidence to say that it is impossible.

Wouldn't that change your life if there were other forms of life besides humans? What if those spirits had a role in the origin of life on earth (as Richard Dawkins admitted was a possibility).

[Silver]

Well maybe not

With those three words you supported my claim.

[Silver]

But there is evidence, virtually all human societies have records and testimonies of people who had contact with spiritual entities.

That is not evidence so much as it is thoughts led astray by fancy.

[joseph_]

Well maybe not

With those three words you supported my claim.

But there is evidence, virtually all human societies have records and testimonies of people who had contact with spiritual entities.

That is not evidence so much as it is thoughts led astray by fancy.

Science is, in general more rigorous than philosophy, but it makes no sense to try to generalize what "science" is since the definition invokes philosophy and it changes very rapidly. Many of the scientific fields today did not exist before the 19th century. It is also impossible to do science without philosophy or to critique the nature of science without philosophy.

To call something a "science" is to make an argument for its epistemic reliability. There are so called "sciences" of textual criticism that presuppose much more and are less rigorous than philosophy. There are fields within, for example, quantum physics where the scientific status is in question. Philosophy is thousands of years old and every single distinguished scientist has had some acquaintance with it, especially since all natural science comes from Aristotle.

[LostLocke]

But there is evidence, virtually all human societies have records and testimonies of people who had contact with spiritual entities.

That is not evidence so much as it is thoughts led astray by fancy.

Right. Testimony and "records" are anecdotal. There hasn't been, as of yet, any actual evidence. It seems odd that as technology and data gathering exploded, the number of these accounts had dropped dramatically. It's almost as though people were just telling stories, and as our ability to test and call people out on these stories, they just decided to stop telling them.

[Minimalist]

Why would people be unwilling to acknowledge the possibility that spiritual entities exist?

All you need is evidence, friend.  Philosophical babble doesn't cut it.