Scientific Materialism
/ˌsaɪənˈtɪfɪk məˈtɪəriəlɪzəm/noun
The view that reality consists fundamentally of matter and that natural phenomena should be explained through scientific investigation.
Did you know?In the nineteenth century, scientific materialism became closely associated with thinkers such as Ludwig Büchner, who argued that mind could not exist independently of the physical brain.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*skey-
“To cut, split, or distinguish; the proposed ancient root behind the Latin family connected with knowing and discerning.”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*méh₂tēr
“Mother; the ancestral root of Latin mater and the later family surrounding matter.”
Classical Latin
Latin
scientia
“Knowledge, particularly knowledge acquired through study or understanding.”
Classical Latin
Latin
materia
“Matter or physical substance; originally associated with wood as material, and related to mater, “mother.””
18th Century
French
matérialisme
“The philosophical doctrine that matter is the fundamental reality.”
19th Century
English
scientific materialism
“A term for explaining reality, including life and mind, through scientific naturalism and physical matter.”
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