Matter as a philosophical category: idealistic, materialistic and positivist approaches to the concept

Matter as a philosophical category has been of interest to thinkers since the time when Plato introduced this notion into theoretical usage. The author of the term contrasts his "idea", emphasizing the static and immutability of the latter as opposed to volatility and variability - to the qualities of matter. It is these properties that formed later in the forms of being matter, that is, time, space and motion.

Matter as a philosophical category is one of the basic concepts of any concept. There are several basic approaches to determining its content: materialistic, idealistic and positivistic.

The materialistic approach is a series of concepts based on the solution of the basic philosophical question of what is primary: matter or consciousness, in favor of the former. According to the materialists, being and matter are concepts close to identity, and matter is the availability, the reality of being. All around are only forms, states of matter. This includes ideas, people, any ways of social organization. According to the materialistic conception, matter is objective and independent of human consciousness.

The materialist approach has become widespread in the modern world: it was the basis of the Marxist concept and became the fundamental theoretical setting of natural scientific theories, since one of the fundamental postulates of this approach is the principle of the cognizability of the world through the study of properties, connections and forms of matter.

Idealistic theories proclaim the primacy of the spirit. However, the positions of supporters of this approach are not identical. Differences formed two theoretical trends: objective and subjective idealism.

The objective-idealistic position is the recognition of the primacy of the ideal and absolute spirit. Matter as a philosophical category, according to the objective-idealistic approach, is a secondary product, the product of an absolute spirit.

A vivid representative of this approach is GVF. Hegel. In his "Phenomenology of the Spirit," the process of the ascent of the idea to absolute knowledge is described: the highest form of being of the idea is the absolute spirit by which the idea becomes, having achieved perfection in the knowledge of itself.

Subjective idealism is a specific concept of the relationship between the categories "matter" and "consciousness." According to this approach, matter does not exist objectively, it is only a figment of the imagination of human consciousness.

Positivists share the position of supporters of the subjective-idealistic approach in the part of denying the existence of matter. However, the main argument of this statement is the agnostic view : the objective reality of matter can not be proved and investigated by experimental means, therefore, it can not be asserted that it exists.

Matter as a philosophical category has been and remains the subject of constant discussions of theorists for many centuries. Today, in the era of technological progress, a person has practicality, an attitude to increase the volume of consumption of material goods and improve the quality of services provided. Progress is impossible if we exclude the possibility of knowing the world. So the materialistic approach defines values, and the values cultivated by society form the philosophical attitude of the majority.