I feel physicalism downplays the importance of people and animals - so it has helped fuel factory farming and general ruthlessness in business. Phrases like 'human resources', 'wet-ware', even 'consumers' seem to stem from this way of thinking.
There is a certain abstract way of thinking that is scary. Mathematicians in banks inventing statistical tricks to make money at the expense of overall financial stability, technologists designing ever more weapons systems, psychologists figuring out how to persuade people to buy products in quantities that are not good for them...
Of course, the religious right seem pretty awful, so I don't know...
David |