Materialism

Abstract

The word “materialism” is ambiguous, for it designates both a moral doctrine and a philosophy. In ordinary language, “materialism” is synonymous with “hedonism”, or the pursuit of pleasure and material possessions. On the other hand, philosophical materialism is the worldview according to which everything real is material. The two doctrines are logically independent: hedonism is coherent with immaterialism, and philosophical materialism is compatible with lofty moral values. Epicurus, the most famous materialist of antiquity, was known to be extremely austere. And nowadays some of the most greedy tycoons and corrupt politicians like to denounce materialism and preach spirituality, which they conflate with religiosity.