Materialism
Materialism has been defined differently by different people. First, the belief of a universe that is only composed of matter and not spiritual intelligence is materialism. Individuals who believe in valuing the possession of physical things above everything else are also said to be materialistic. Several individuals have accepted materialism as a philosophy where the belief is only based on the existence of a purely physical world that does not leave space for spirituality and consciousness. The existence of materialism as a philosophy can be dated back to the pre-Socratic era and as the oldest known philosophy of western civilization. The definition of nature was based on the idea of atomism, and no definition was allowed for spiritualism and consciousness. Materialism philosophy does not give sufficient evidence against the existence of other forms of nature that are not material such as spirituality and consciousness.
Materialistic philosophers have explained the world as a mass composed of atomic structures that control every other process. Among the processes that are said to exist from physical processes is energy (Diduch, 88). However, the philosophy does not give sufficient evidence to support such a claim. The claim that the world is material is weak and cannot be taken seriously. A better claim would be that nature contains material objects in it that work in association with immaterial processes to complete the universe. For example, a material philosopher will not explain the structure of the mind but will accept that there is a brain. The operation of the brain will not be effective if the mind is not functioning. A claim that nature is purely material will not hold because, in most of the cases, the immaterial processes control the material processes. Even if the claim that nature was completely material were to hold, an explanation would still be required concerning the materiality of knowledge. The organization of nature would not be possible without a control knowledge, and thus the claim that nature is purely material will not hold.
A claim that the world is only composed of matter brings a contradiction on the origin of the universe. The belief in materialism is atheistic and does not recognize the existence of spiritualism. However, spiritualism is not escapable, especially if the origin of nature has to be explained (Boer, 347). Questions always arise when the belief in spirituality is rejected because spirituality is the only belief that gives a reasonable explanation concerning the origin of nature. The belief that materialism has a weakness in that matter has to originate from somewhere. Therefore, the claim by materialistic philosophers that nature is a firm of matter that has no beginning and an end is a contradiction to the existence of a reality that shows a nature that keeps on evolving. Materialism only gives a smaller part of the possible thinking field. The philosophers who believe in materialistic philosophy are only limited to the belief of the easier definition. The reality that most philosophers do not accept is the existence of a spiritual world that is not easily interpretable. The philosophers, therefore, choose to believe in the most structured materialism that is organized by the immaterial nature.
The opinions of the materialistic philosophers should, however, not be ignored completely. The opinions of an individual are always based on personal reasons and evidence. For example, the belief that God exists could be taken from different perspectives by different people (Marchetto, 320). The reasons behind such a claim are only valid according to the experiences. Seeking an opinion from a second party is therefore not a better war of supporting a claim. For example, it would be not convincing enough to believe that materialism is true because a certain philosopher said so. However, the evidence that accompanies a certain claim influences the rate at which people are convinced into believing the claim. The evidence provided by materialistic philosophers is, therefore refutable and materialism should not be taken as the only component of nature. An unfortunate result of believing in materiality is the impact on the lives of individuals.
Philosophy can significantly affect the lives of followers who are not in a position to gather more information concerning a certain claim. The belief in materialism has an adverse impact on individuals who fail to accept the importance of spirituality. Materialistic people only believe that the primary purpose of life is to accumulate as many physical possessions as possible and that possession can purchase happiness. However, the realization that materialism is not a wise philosophy to go by comes later in life when individuals have already made regrettable choices. The confusion that comes with believing in materialism has significant impacts on the individuals. For example, a materialistic person will have difficulties explaining simple processes such as peace and happiness. Although the experience of methods such as peace and happiness could depend on material things, the availability of the material things do not guarantee such values, and the values are also not substantial. A true but hard fact is that material possessions are not entirely necessary to achieve values such as peace and happiness. However, the satisfaction from material possessions has to depend on immaterial values.
The greatest belief that human beings have held for so long is the understanding of the existence. Materialism has, however, been keen to prove that God does not exist. Trying to prove the opposite of such a great imaginative creation would take significant efforts and not merely unsupported theories. If God exists, the world is not accidental (Pojman, 34). The belief of the materialistic philosophers and followers, however, argue that no explanation is required concerning the origin of the universe because matter exists on its own. However, basing an argument on void cannot serve the purpose of feeding the curiosity of humanity that grows every day. The existence of supernatural beings, therefore, brings light into the definition of the origin of the universe and negates the belief on materiality.
In sum, materialist philosophy does not give sufficient evidence against the existence of other forms of nature that are not material such as spirituality and consciousness. The arguments given by materialism philosophers are only based on the desire to escape the complex nature of the universe to conclude that the universe purely matters easily. Generally, materiality should only be viewed as a small part of a complex universe.
Work cited
Boer, Roland. “God in the World: Lenin, Hegel, and the God‐Builders.” The Heythrop Journal 60.3 (2019): 347-361.
Diduch, Paul. “The socratic turn: Knowledge of good and evil in an age of science.” Contemporary Political Theory 17.2 (2018): 86-89.
Marchetto, Monica. “The History and Concept of Materialism in Schelling’s Philosophy of Identity.” Revue philosophique de la France et de l’étranger 140.3 (2015): 325-340.
Pojman, Louis P., and Lewis Vaughn. “Philosophy: The quest for truth.” (2009).