What is Materialism?

Materialism is the belief that nothing exists beyond the physical reality of matter – there is nothing supernatural or spiritual beyond what can be measured or observed by physical means. This idea was expressed as early as the Greek philosophers Democritus and Epicurus, among others. Materialism was further developed to a considerable extent by the British philosopher Thomas Hobbes, whose work reflected the improvements in scientific understanding taking place during his lifetime. Indeed, materialism has received more attention at times of scientific progress and non-materialist positions are generally associated with lack of progress in sciences.

Various schools of thought have been developed within the overall theme of materialism. Among them is the distinction between Berkeley, who believed that physical characteristics were shaped by the beholder, and Hobbes, who believed that all physical characteristics are wholly present in the thing being observed.

More recently, people interested in this subject have preferred to use the term ‘physicalism’ rather than materialism because modern physics has indicated that ‘matter’ itself is not the indivisible, eternal thing that people had previously thought it to be.

The term ‘materialism’ is also used in different ways by different people. In the modern world, materialism is often used pejoratively to denote a person who is too much interested in the ephemera of everyday life (e.g. fashion, consumer goods) and, therefore, insufficiently aware of spiritual or supernatural issues. Economic materialism considers the accumulation and distribution of physical resources to be one of if not the highest goals of society and, therefore, of government. People are considered to be happiest or, at least, least dissatisfied if as many of their and their family members’ physical needs are met. Politically, economic materialism stresses the importance of stability over change and revolution and works on the basis that people with material things will resist risky change that imperils their ownership of those items.

Historical materialism is a term used by Marx and in Marxism to indicate the scientific nature of the progress of history. According to this belief, history is not just a jumble of events, dominated by princes and generals and subject to chance and nor is it guided by any invisible, omniscient supernatural beings for their own purposes. Instead, historical progress is determined by class struggle which will inevitably and ultimately end in a revolution and the victory of the proletariat.

Dialectical materialism, meanwhile, is another term used in Marxist thought which develops the Hegelian method of dialecticism. It argues that only physical material things exist and that they are placed constantly in opposition to each other, revealing a series of oppositions and inconsistencies which are resolved by the formation of new structures or items. This is the process by which historical materialism acts and leads to the revolution outlined above.