materialism

Philosophical theory that there is nothing in existence over and above matter and matter in motion. Such a theory excludes the possibility of deities. It also sees mind as an attribute of the physical, denying idealist theories that see mind as something independent of body; for example, Descartes' theory of ‘thinking substance’.

Like most other philosophical ideas, materialism probably arose among the early Greek thinkers. The Stoics and the Epicureans were materialists, and so were the ancient Buddhists. Among later materialists have been the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, the French Denis Diderot, the German dramatist Georg Büchner, and the German scientist Ernst Haeckel; in the UK, David Hume, J S Mill, Thomas Huxley, and Herbert Spencer showed materialist tendencies.

The most common meaning of ‘materialism’ is the emphasis on or desire for consumer goods rather than spiritual values. This is not linked to the philosophical stand.