What is Materialism?
Q: What is Materialism?
A: Materialism is the philosophical belief that the world is made of material, and that there are no other types of entity (things). Everything is composed of material. Things that are not made of material, such as consciousness, are the result of actions by material. In other words, matter is the only real substance.
Q: What is Physicalism?
A: Physicalism is a related term to Materialism. It refers to the idea that physical entities exist in reality and can be studied through scientific means.
Q: Do Materialists believe in supernatural entities?
A: No, Materialists do not believe in supernatural entities as they find this idea either meaningless or not scientifically proven.
Q: Are all atheists also Materialists?
A: No, not all atheists are necessarily Materialists as there have been some historically important Materialist thinkers who believed in a Pantheist idea of God (such as Baruch Spinoza and Friedrich Engels).
Q: What does Modern Philosophical Materialism include?
A: Modern Philosophical Materialism includes basic entities proven by science such as energy, forces, and the curvature of space. Matter and energy are known to be interchangeable and much else such as gravity is caused by matter.
Q: What other types of philosophy share some aims with materialism?
A: Examples would include reductionism, logical positivism and empiricism which share some aims with materialism.
Q: Who were early materialist philosophers?
A: Early materialist philosophers included Thales, Epicurus and Lucretius from Ancient Greek philosophy but it also appeared in other ancient cultures too.
