Does anyone else get annoyed when (often philosophical) words are misused in common speach? Examples: Some anti-consumerist or anti-capitalists say “Materialism is bad,” which is annoying as a dialectical materialist. Materialism is the philosophy of putting matter over mind when studying the world, not liking fancy things. People frequently complain about “cynicism” meaning self-interest, cold-heartedness, or unreasonable skepticism. In reality it’s an ancient philosophy of living naturally and virtuously, rejecting social norms and ideals. I legit heard someone saying Stoicism means seriousness as in taking a sport seriously. It’s a philosophy of living virtuously and avoiding unnecessary psychological pain. These days people only know “op/ps” as opposition not operatives or operations. Finally, I know someone who thinks “dialectics” pretty much just means talking.
(not sure if this is the right comm, but it’s a rant)
As with linguistics, it’s constantly evolving.
So, materialism/materialist could mean it in a philosophical context as you’ve mentioned or it could mean valuing goods over currency to the point where there’s a lack of financial planning.
It does take a bit of effort to switch between the two meanings
It’s just weird reading anti-capitalist stuff where they only use the word negatively.
I guess some people just get stuck at the utopian socialist stage.
Well, the book that sparked this post is called Everyday Utopia. It’s a bit overly optimistic about the potential of Utopian experiments, but makes a valuable case against the human nature argument and for hope.
lol i nailed it.
I think that usage comes from pre-capitalist religions, where ‘materialism’ is taken to embody a kind of desacralization of pre-capitalist spiritualities. So it’s counterposed to supernaturalism rather than to philosophical idealism, and sort of synonymous with ‘naturalism’ as in ‘methodological naturalism’ in the sciences. Accumulation of wealth in such discourses is ‘materialistic’ in the sense of secular vanity. So it’s anti-capitalist in a reactionary way, alluding vaguely to a call for a return to a tradition older than (and profaned by) capitalism.
That’s how I think of it, anyway. :)