materialism
Sign in to saveIn philosophy and metaphysics, materialism is a form of monism holding that matter is the fundamental substance of nature, so that all things, including mind and consciousness, arise from material interactions and depend on physical processes, including those of the human brain and nervous system. It contrasts with monistic idealism, which treats consciousness as fundamental, and is related to naturalism, the view that only natural laws and forces operate in the universe, and to physicalism, the view that all that exists is ultimately physical. Physicalism extends materialism by including form
AI overview
Materialism is the philosophical view that matter is the fundamental substance of nature, and that everything—including the mind and consciousness—arises from and depends on physical processes like those in the brain and nervous system. It matters because it contrasts with alternative views (like idealism, which sees consciousness as fundamental) and shapes how people understand the nature of reality, the mind, and what exists in the universe.
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Article
27 sectionsContents
- Overview
- Non-reductive materialism
- History
- Early history
- Before Common Era
- Early Common Era
- Modern philosophy<!--'Anthropological materialism' and 'German materialism' redirect here-->
- Contemporary history
- Analytic philosophy
- Continental philosophy
- Defining "matter"
- Physicalism
- Religious and spiritual views
- Christianity
- Criticism and alternatives
- From contemporary physicists
- Quantum mechanics
- Digital physics
- Philosophical objections
- Varieties of idealism
- Materialism as methodology
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Bibliography
- Further reading
- External links
In philosophy and metaphysics, materialism is a form of monism holding that matter is the fundamental substance of nature, so that all things, including mind and consciousness, arise from material interactions and depend on physical processes, including those of the human brain and nervous system. It contrasts with monistic idealism, which treats consciousness as fundamental, and is related to naturalism, the view that only natural laws and forces operate in the universe, and to physicalism, the view that all that exists is ultimately physical. Physicalism extends materialism by including forms of physicality beyond ordinary matter (e.g. spacetime, energy, forces, exotic matter), and some use the terms interchangeably.
Alternative philosophies opposed or alternative to materialism or physicalism include idealism, pluralism, dualism, solipsism, panpsychism, and other forms of monism.