Hot Topic?
Before attempting to link up, let me give you my own capsule interpretation of the status of 'eschatological immaterialism' on the Internet.
For starters, when one enters the preceding phrase in Google, even without the quotes, there are a grand total of five hits, the second and third of which refer to myself. It would seem that this is not a hot topic. It also, of course, speaks to the issue of precedence.
What is the problem? Why are not more people seeing what appears to be so obvious? People simply have difficulty grasping a gestalt of this magnitude, it is an enormous switch from our modern materialist cosmology. If, nonetheless, someone does grasp it, they then have to confront the messianic, jc,jr, issue. The fact that another bloke has already hung out that shingle, may or may not make things easier for our prospective neophyte.
There are more than a few immaterialists on the net, but they understandably shy away from grappling with its cosmological implications. The alternatives for them are the mystical tradition of immaterialism, i.e. eastern mysticism, or a very restricted analytical approach to it, or some combination of these two. In any case, coherence comes up with the short end of the stick.
The next most logical place to look would be for those espousing some form of Cartesian dualism. There are a fair number of these as well, but they quickly run into the incoherence of that dichotomy, and are left with not much to say. At best they can appeal to the Quantum as a means of reducing the incoherence. These quantum dualists may warrant some further attention on our part.
The problem with these two possibilities is that there is no apparent motion or trend to follow at present. Also the advocates of these views are quite aware that they are already skirting the fringe of respectability. Eschatological immaterialism is so far beyond that fringe that it is unlikely to hold any attraction for them. Where else might we turn?
I remain partial to the issue of reductionism per se. A lively debate ensues and it is a make or break issue for materialism. If materialism is going to implode, this would be ground zero for that event. The shock of this might be sufficient to cause some of the participants and onlookers to be more open to radical alternatives. This prospective event would be our most likely source of momentum, that all important political currency. At the least, I can review the reasons for my prognosis regarding the eventual dramatic demise of materialism.
6/2/02