What is materialism? A materialist is who?

Who is a materialist? Before dealing with this concept, it is necessary to have an idea about the definition of materialism. First of all, this is a form of philosophical monism, which says that matter is the main substance in nature, and that everything (including consciousness and psyche) is the result of material interactions. Accordingly, the materialist is an adherent of the idea of materialism or its follower.

Interrelationships with other philosophical worldviews

Materialism is closely connected with physicalism. This philosophical direction describes a world in which everything that exists is justified by physics and its laws. Philosophical physicalism has evolved far from materialism, because its dogmas are associated with physical discoveries.

Materialism, on the other hand, is limited to exact sciences, in its argumentation there is only space of time, physical energy, dark matter, strength and other generalized hypothetical things. Thus, proceeding from the common goal of these directions, one can say that they are similar, but you should not use these words as synonyms.

There are two main categories of philosophical currents

The materialist is a follower of the philosophical world view, which belongs to the class of monistic ontology, the principles of which contradict idealism, dualism and pluralism. It can be safely stated that materialism is a complete inversion of idealism. Materialists assert that matter is primary, and consciousness is secondary. And the idealists assert everything exactly the opposite.

Despite the large number of philosophical schools and subtle nuances between them, the main categories of philosophy are still materialism and idealism. From these groups all other kinds of outlook come, which around the basic idea weave outside dogmas.

There is also an independent philosophical theory - this is dualism: the belief that matter and consciousness develop in independent instances parallel to each other.

Philosophers-materialists

In the 19th century, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels broadened the notion of materialism, developing a new philosophical direction "dialectical materialism" (40's). However, they did not operate with this term. This name was first introduced by Joseph Dietzgen in 1887.

The brief essence of the teachings of Marx and Engels is that the basis of the world is matter, and consciousness is its property. The movement and development of the world, as dialectical materialism says, is the result of spiritual contradictions. The target laws of "diamat" (abbreviated) are the integrity and opposition of opposites, the sublimation of quantitative changes into qualitative changes, the law of "negation of negation".

The theoretical source of diamete is the critically revised idealistic dialectic of Hegel and the philosophical doctrines of Feuerbach's materialism.

Famous Russian materialists are:

• Bartholomew Zaitsev (years of life 1842-1878) - a famous literary critic and nihilist 60-ies of the 19 th century.
• Nikolay Kareev (years of life 1850-1931) - sociologist, philosopher. His most famous works are: "Philosophy of the cultural and social history of modern times", "Old and new sketches about economic materialism".
• Matvey Troitsky (years of life 1835-1899) - a representative of empirical philosophy in Russia. The founder of the first "Moscow Psychological Society". The most remarkable work, describing the basics of materialism, is "A sketch of readings on the metaphysics of Professor Lotze."
• Dmitry Pisarev (years of life 1840-1868) - a famous revolutionary democrat, publicist and literary critic. One of the most outstanding representatives of the "sixties".
• Nikolay Dobrolyubov (years of life 1836-1861) is a revolutionary democrat, poet and publicist. A follower of materialism, empiricism and reasonable egoism. He argued that any a priori forces are a myth, and the primacy of the universe is matter.

What is a material accountant?

Have you ever heard of such a profession? Who is it? This is an accountant-specialist of the highest level of qualification in material accounting of the office in the enterprise. This frame is responsible for those areas of accounting work, for which he is assigned as a responsible person.

The name of this profession is in no way connected with philosophical teachings and directions. "Accountant materialist" - this is simply a general name for employees of office records, whose duties may include various components, depending on the scope of the enterprise.