Materialism belongs to the class of monist ontology, and is thus different from ontological theories based on dualism or pluralism. For singular explanations of the phenomenal reality, materialism is in contrast to See more

George Stack distinguishes between materialism and physicalism:
In the twentieth century, physicalism has emerged out of positivism. Physicalism restricts meaningful statements to physical bodies or processes that are verifiable or in principle … See more

From contemporary physicists
Rudolf Peierls, a physicist who played a major role in the Manhattan Project, rejected materialism: "The premise that you can describe in terms of physics the whole function of a human being ... including … See more

Early history
Before Common Era
Materialism developed, possibly independently, in several geographically separated regions of See more

The nature and definition of matter—like other key concepts in science and philosophy—have occasioned much debate:
• Is there a single kind of matter (hyle) that everything is made of, or are there multiple kinds? See more

Christianity
Hinduism and Transcendental Club
Most Hindus and transcendentalists regard all matter as an illusion, or maya, blinding humans from the truth. Transcendental experiences like the perception of See more

• Aleatory materialism
• Antimaterialism beliefs:
• Cārvāka
• Christian materialism
• Critical realism See more