materialism

[muh-teer-ee-uh-liz-uh m] /məˈtɪər i əˌlɪz əm/
noun
1.
preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values.
2.
the philosophical theory that regards matter and its motions as constituting the universe, and all phenomena, including those of mind, as due to material agencies.
Origin
1740-50; < Neo-Latin māteriālismus. See material, -ism
Related forms
antimaterialism, noun
Examples from the web for materialism
  • Earlier in the week, he had fired a broadside against materialism.
  • He criticised too the emptiness of secular materialism.
  • After a year, its gritty materialism had gotten to me.
  • We have traded violence for materialism and self-gratification.
  • Mo simply left that part out, but the materialism implies that.
  • Some on the left claim the indulgent materialism is using up the economy's resources while serious social.
  • Modern medicine is a testament to the genius of methodological materialism and a mechanical approach to the human being.
  • It is involves the virtue of living within one's means and not putting materialism on the highest pedestal.
  • materialism is unproven and nothing more than an ideology unsupported by evidence.
  • Barbie and her endless series of lifestyle accessories have also come to stand for raw materialism.
British Dictionary definitions for materialism

materialism

/məˈtɪərɪəˌlɪzəm/
noun
1.
interest in and desire for money, possessions, etc, rather than spiritual or ethical values
2.
(philosophy) the monist doctrine that matter is the only reality and that the mind, the emotions, etc, are merely functions of it Compare idealism (sense 3), dualism (sense 2) See also identity theory
3.
(ethics) the rejection of any religious or supernatural account of things
Derived Forms
materialist, noun, adjective
materialistic, adjective
materialistically, adverb
Word Origin and History for materialism
n.

1748, "philosophy that nothing exists except matter" (from French matérialisme); 1851 as "a way of life based entirely on consumer goods." From material + ism.

materialism in Culture

materialism definition


In philosophy, the position that nothing exists except matter — things that can be measured or known through the senses. Materialists deny the existence of spirit, and they look for physical explanations for all phenomena. Thus, for example, they trace mental states to the brain or nervous system, rather than to the spirit or the soul. Marxism, because it sees human culture as the product of economic forces, is a materialist system of beliefs.