The purpose of this blog is to articulate a modern philosophy of life. This philosophy, like all philosophies, is an interpretation of many other philosophies. Although it may qualify to be described by many other names, the philosophy of this blog will be referred to as "positive materialism". In this post I will elaborate on the meaning of this name.
The word "materialism" has at least two meanings: one metaphysical and one ideological. These two meanings are related, but not identical. By distinguishing between these two meanings, we can better understand the meaning of the concept as a whole.
In metaphysics, a materialist is someone who thinks that the physical universe is the fundamental reality that exists. This is in contrast to an idealist, who thinks that the mental universe (or consciousness) is the fundamental reality, or a dualist, who thinks that both exist as separate but connected realities. By my definition, materialism implies atheism, while the other two metaphysical theories can be compatible with many religious beliefs.
The other meaning of "materialism" is as a personal ideology, in which the purpose of life is to acquire as much property as possible. It is not simply an ideology of selfishness, but rather the idea that selfishness is rational, and that property is the object of all selfishness. In other words, a materialist of this sort believes that happiness can be measured in terms of tangible objects, or in terms of a currency that can be exchanged for tangible objects. Any other kind of motivation, to a materialist, is a delusion of naive idealism.
In referring to the philosophy of this blog as "positive materialism", I seek to show that being a metaphysical materialist does not necessarily imply the negative connotations associated with being an ideological materialist.
My intent is to provide a solution to the dilemma faced by any sensible person living in the modern world. The incredible results of modern science and technology make metaphysical materialism nearly self-evident, because our ability to understand the material world has improved so dramatically. At the same time, the widespread belief that metaphysical materialism implies ideological materialism causes many people to reject materialism altogether. Because they fear the image of the world created by ideological materialism, these people can't bring themselves to assume the perspective of metaphysical materialism.
To solve this dilemma, we must simply understand how one can be a metaphysical materialist without being an ideological materialist. This is to answer the following question: How can one value anything intangible if one believes that reality is fundamentally tangible?
If the answer could be reduced to a single statement, it would be this: The intangible is an abstraction of the tangible.
Assuming metaphysical materialism, any concept, by virtue of being imagined by a physical brain in a physical world, is derived from a material reality. Therefore, the importance of that concept is not diminished by the belief that reality is fundamentally physical. In fact, it is often true that understanding the physical nature of an abstract idea provides useful insights that are unavailable to those who reject materialism. In the course of writing this blog, I hope to provide a small contribution into such insights.
