Who is a materialist? Before understanding this concept, it is necessary to have an idea of the definition of materialism. It is primarily a form of philosophical monism, which says that matter is the basic substance in nature, and that everything (including consciousness and psyche) is the result of material interactions. Accordingly, a materialist is an adherent of the idea of materialism or its follower.
Relationships with other philosophical worldviews
Materialism is closely related to 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 is limited to the exact sciences, in its argumentation there is only space-time, physical energy, dark matter, force and other generalizedhypothetical things. Thus, based on the common goal of these directions, we can say that they are similar, but you should not use these words as synonyms.
There are two main categories of philosophical currents
A materialist is a follower of a philosophical worldview belonging to the class of monistic ontology, the principles of which contradict idealism, dualism and pluralism. We can safely say that materialism is a complete inversion of idealism. Materialists claim that matter is primary and consciousness is secondary. And the idealists say 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. All other varieties of worldview come from these groups, which weave third-party dogmas around the main idea.
There is also an independent philosophical theory - this is dualism: the opinion that matter and consciousness develop in independent parallel instances.
Materialist philosophers
In the 19th century, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels expanded the concept of materialism, developing a new philosophical direction "dialectical materialism" (40s). However, they did not operate with such a 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, are the results of spiritualcontradictions. The target laws of “diamat” (abbreviated) are the integrity and confrontation of opposites, the sublimation of quantitative changes into qualitative ones, the law of “denial of negation.”
The critically revised idealistic dialectic of Hegel and Feuerbach's philosophical teachings on materialism are considered to be the theoretical source of diamat.
Famous Russian materialists are:
- Vartolomey Zaitsev (life years 1842-1878) - famous literary critic and nihilist of the 60s of the 19th century.
- Nikolai Kareev (years of life 1850-1931) - sociologist, philosopher. His most famous works: "Philosophy of the cultural and social history of modern times", "Old and new studies on economic materialism".
- Matvey Troitsky (years of life 1835-1899) is a representative of empirical philosophy in Russia. Founder of the first Moscow Psychological Society. The most notable work describing the foundations of materialism is Prof. Lotze's Study of Metaphysics Readings.
- Dmitry Pisarev (life years 1840-1868) - a well-known revolutionary democrat, publicist and literary critic. One of the brightest representatives of the "sixties".
- Nikolai Dobrolyubov (years of life 1836-1861) - revolutionary democrat, poet and publicist. A follower of materialism, empiricism and rational egoism. He argued that any a priori forces are a myth, and the primacy of the universe is matter.
What is a materialist accountant?
Have you heardever such a profession? Who is that? This is an accountant-specialist of the highest qualification level in the material accounting of the office at 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 has nothing to do with philosophical teachings and trends. "Accountant materialist" is just a generic name for office accounting workers, whose duties may include various components depending on the scope of the enterprise.
