Materialism, is a generic term encompassing various forms of naturalism and positivism, represents a distinctive worldview that became notably widespread in the modern age. It asserts that only what is physical or observable exists, rejecting anything deemed higher or spiritual.
Within the broader context of modern thought, materialism functions as a significant stage in the nihilist dialectic, serving to annihilate concepts of absolute truth and divine revelation.
Defining Materialism and its Nihilistic Character
Materialism, in its simplest form, asserts that nothing exists but what is most obvious. It is a belief in the "nothing but," reducing everything traditionally considered "higher", such as the things of the mind and spirit – to lower or basic elements like matter, sensation, and the purely physical.
This perspective inherently denies absolute truth, aligning with the Nihilistic doctrine that there is no absolute state of affairs, no ultimate "thing in itself". If truth is fundamentally knowledge of the beginning and end of things, of the dimension of the absolute, then those who accept scientific knowledge as the only truth and deny what lies above it are considered nihilists.
Such a stance represents the presumption of the fragment to replace the whole. It is an attempt to construct truth and wisdom from a foundation of collected facts, from below, rather than by accepting what is perceived as revealed from above. While seemingly modest in its claims, materialism, particularly in its guise as positivism or doctrinaire agnosticism, contains inherent logical contradictions. For instance, the statement "all truth is relative" is, in itself, an absolute statement.
Similarly, the denial of absolute truth constitutes an absolute truth in itself. These positions are often seen as the "negative metaphysics" of an unreflective, practical mindset, or as Scientism, which illicitly extends scientific criteria beyond their proper bounds. The adherence to materialism, particularly in its more naive forms, suggests a lack of consistent or deep thought among its proponents, who may appear unaware of these fatal contradictions.
Materialism, or realism as it is often termed in this context, arose following the period of liberalism in the nihilist dialectic. While liberalism was characterised by indifference to absolute truth and an excessive attachment to the world, realism escalates this to hostility towards truth and fanatical devotion to worldly concerns.
Materialism became pervasive, extending beyond an intellectual elite to influence the masses. The ideas of figures like Marx, Freud, and Darwin, are manifestations of this widespread nihilist simplification.
Open Atheism
Unlike the vagueness of liberalism or Deism, materialism often embraces an open Atheism, believing that God simply does not exist. However, genuine atheism is difficult for the whole man, and instead, functions as anti-theism, a deliberate war against God. This is echoed in the explicit declarations of Proudhon and Bakunin, who believed that if God existed, it would be necessary to abolish Him – to the systematic war against God waged by Bolshevism.`
Rejection of Idealism and Abstraction
Materialists prioritise the concrete and factual, discarding idealism and abstraction in favour of what is empirically verifiable. This reductionist approach aims to abolish any suggestion of or aspiration to anything higher, simplifying everything into obvious and "basic" explanations.
Where a Christian might see God in everything, the materialist sees only race, sex, or the other such modes of operation.
Science as Absolute Truth
Science is regarded as the exclusive and absolute truth, with its criteria often illegitimately extended beyond their proper bounds. This "scientism" asserts the absolute truth of materialism and determinism, often transferring the allegiance and emotions once devoted to religion to "science". Such a philosophy is suicidal because if everything is determined, then philosophy itself, including its own claims, is rendered invalid.
Denial of Ultimate Purpose
Materialism implies that there is no ultimate goal or answer to the question "why" regarding existence. This perspective suggests the world is absurd not from dispassionate inquiry, but from an inability or unwillingness to believe in a Christian understanding of meaning.
Love of Truth Gone Astray
While materialists may claim a love of truth that rejects higher truth as fantasy, this love is seen as having gone astray, becoming a disease that ends in its own negation. It becomes prostituted to an irrational 'cause' and transforms into a principle of subversion and destruction, ultimately becoming the enemy of the truth it failed to attain.
Consequences and Impact on Humanity
The triumph of materialism is seen as leading to a new earth and the fashioning of a "new man," which are central to the nihilist program.
The "New Earth"
Materialists envision a totally "new order" built by men liberated from the yoke of God, upon the ruins of an old order founded on the divine. This involves a total transformation of the earth and society through industrialism and technology, resulting in a world where organisation and efficiency are paramount, but love or reverence are absent.
Modern architecture, design, and human engineering are typical expressions of this dehumanising trend, where total planning leads to strict control over heredity and mind, and the pursuit of a welfare state.
This artificial world promises to be so all-encompassing that it becomes a vast and efficient prison, making it impossible for men to conceive of anything beyond it. The ultimate aim of materialism, within the nihilist program, is the transformation of man.
This involves a mass change in human nature, often achieved through violence and coercion, which is considered as necessary for shaping the "new man" as for building the "new earth".
The "new man" is:
Rootless: Discontinuous with a past destroyed by nihilism. A "Free Thinker" and a skeptic, closed only to truth, yet "open" to every new intellectual fashion due to a lack of intellectual foundation. A "seeker after new revelation", ready to believe anything new because true faith has been annihilated.
He's a planner and experimenter, who worships "fact" after abandoning truth, viewing the world as a laboratory for determining "what is possible". An autonomous Man, who feigns humility while expecting everything in a world where nothing is authoritatively forbidden. These are the men of the moment, someone without conscience or values, susceptible to the strongest "stimulus".
The "Mass Man": a "new barbarian," thoroughly reduced and simplified, capable of only the most elementary ideas, yet scornful of anyone who presumes to point out higher things or the real complexity of life.
Relation to Vitalism
Materialism, in its realist form, leads directly to vitalism, the third stage of the nihilist dialectic. Vitalism represents a reaction against the eclipse of higher realities by the materialist simplification of the world. However, vitalism does not represent a return to Christian truth; instead, it accepts the materialist critique of absolute truth as a precondition.
While materialism attempts to re-establish an absolute truth from below, vitalism expresses the failure of this project, acknowledging that the only unchanging principle in this world is change itself. It reduces everything to subjective experience and sensation, dissolving the world and truth that seemed solid and secure to the materialist into movement and action. Thus, vitalism is a more advanced form of materialism, sharing its narrow view of reality and its intent to reduce higher things to their lowest terms.
The Abyss of Nothingness
The logical progression of unbelief, from the initial indifference of liberalism to the hostility of materialism and the subjective chaos of vitalism, inexorably leads to the abyss of nothingness. This abyss is not merely an absence of being, but a consequence of apostasy and denial of God. The corpse of the "dead God" weighs heavily upon the materialist, leading to a void at the centre of man's faith. The materialist wills the world, which once revolved about God, to revolve now about nothing.
The modern world, permeated by the nihilist spirit of materialism, is described as incoherent and absurd, devoid of any point of orientation or ultimate meaning. Where there was once God, there is now nothing; where there was authority, order, and faith, there are now anarchy, confusion, and despair.
This flight from God, from truth and authority, means that human will, when unguided, is drawn to this abyss. Materialism, by eliminating the divine, thus plays a crucial role in creating a world where man lives in a void, in nothingness.