Since its existence, humanity has tried to make sense of both itself and the world it lives in. This is how science, art and philosophy were born. During this process of making sense, some thinkers said that the basis of everything was abstract concepts, while others kept matter in the foreground. The philosophy that says that the basis of everything and even human beings is matter is materialism.
If you think that Karl Marx invented the philosophy of materialism, you are wrong because this philosophical view was actually thought by different philosophers even thousands of years ago. This shows us that humanity has a common consciousness even though they live in different geographies. Let’s take a closer look at what materialism is and see the ideas advocated by its representatives.
Let’s start by briefly defining it: What is materialism?
Materialism, also known as materialism and materialism; In its most basic definition, it is a philosophical view that argues that everything consists of matter. Materialism, which argues that everything we perceive with our senses is actually formed by the interaction of matter, rejects all concepts related to metaphysics from afar. They say that physical matter is the only substance, and they argue that the main reality is matter.
The philosophy of materialism is based on three basic principles:
- If we explain events and phenomena with unproven concepts such as god, we may miss the substance.
- The most accurate way to prove and verify any proposition is observation and experiment.
- Everything is matter, comes from matter and continues as matter.
The philosophy of materialism is built on the theory of materialism. What we call matter is actually nothing more than what we see with our eyes. Therefore, to summarize in its most basic form, nothing other than matter is accepted by materialists and the explanations made are not accepted as correct.
So, what exactly does materialism stand for?
The philosophy of materialism is described as monistic, that is, it argues that everything comes from a single essence. This essence is, of course, matter. Human consciousness is completely opposed to anything invisible, such as the existence of god. They oppose the explanation of propositions, events and facts with such metaphysical concepts and argue that the truth can only be reached through experimentation and observation.
As soon as you question whether there is less or more of what we see in the outside world, materialists stop you because according to them, the reality of the outside world cannot be questioned. We do not have a soul, as human beings are dependent on this material nature. As in the view of determinism, he argues that man is a part of nature and does not have any superiority over nature.
The history of materialism goes back thousands of years:
The idea of materialism began to flourish in civilizations in different parts of the world in similar periods. It is estimated that the earliest idea of materialism emerged in Carvaka, one of the ancient Indian philosophy schools, around 600 BC. Although a school called Nyaya-Vaisesika took the first steps of materialism, it is not considered fully materialistic as it later tried to prove the existence of god.
When we look at Ancient Greece, we come across philosophers such as Anaxagoras, Epicurus and Democritus. According to them, everything consisted of matter and nothingness. They even said that the essence of everything arose from atom, which in Greek means indivisible. Some basic ideas emerged for the first time in this period, such as that nothing would give birth to anything and that matter would only touch matter.
Over the years, new representatives of materialism have been added:
The Indian philosopher Jayaraashi Bhatta gave new meaning to the Carvaka school when it arose in the 6th century, but this school fell apart in the following years. In the 12th century, an Arab philosopher named Ibn-i Tufeyl appeared in Andalusia and published a novel called Esrarü’l-Hikmeti’l-Meşrikiye. This novel contained very intense materialistic thoughts.
When we came to the Age of Enlightenment in the 17th century, the number of materialists began to increase more than ever before. In addition to numerous French figures such as Pierre Gassendi, Jean Meslier, Julien Offroy de La Mettrie, Paul-Henri Thiry Baron d’Holbach, Denis Diderot, German Ludwig Feuerbach and Englishman John Stewart made their names known as materialists during this period.
The famous German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer argued that materialism was wrong. According to him, materialism was not enough because he was trying to explain the unknown with the little known, and this did not give the right result. Arthur Schopenhauer, who examines the concepts of the available and the obtained world in terms of subject and object, says that these are actually the same things viewed from different angles.
Karl Marx’s approach gave materialism a new dimension:
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels approached materialism from a new angle and analyzed it as two different concepts; dialectical materialism and historical materialism. Classes form the basis of Marx’s thought of materialism. Existing social relations affect everything.
Their definition of materialism was actually based on their everyday economic system. The everyday economic system also formed and influenced history. This idea, which was put forward against the German idealist philosophy, is based on the production power of people as the beginning and revealer of everything. This is the basis of all politics, law and religious structure.
Again in this context, the idea of scientific socialism they put forward reveals a kind of interaction idea. He says that there are no immutable laws of nature, and that all kinds of values are actually produced by societies. All kinds of relationships that arise in this context are also determined by material factors.
Materialism’s approach to religion is also different:
In fact, it is more or less understood, but since it is a curious subject, it is useful to open a separate topic. Materialism rejects the concept of god and any related religion. Almost all of the materialist names that have emerged throughout history are also atheists.
We answered questions such as what is materialism, which says that everything comes from matter, is matter and will remain as matter, what does it advocate, and who are its representatives. You can share your thoughts on the subject in the comments.
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