The Fundamentality of Physics

Abstract

A core commitment among physicalists is that physics holds some special status among the sciences, that it is fundamental. This paper argues that the most common interpretation of the fundamentality of physics, in terms of the ontological or explanatory completeness of physics, faces several insurmountable challenges. This interpretation relies on questionable assumptions about physics, many of which have been widely recognized as questionable in the philosophy of science for decades. Moreover, completeness physicalism is untenable in failing to provide the physicalist with any usable guide to ontology or metaphysical commitments. These same considerations motivate a revised interpretation of fundamentality in terms of a notion of ontological or explanatory maximality. This maximality physicalism is developed and defended.