Materialism and Idealism in Understanding Human Society and Culture

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October 20, 2018
Materialists and Idealists
Materialism and Idealism have been two different sides in the understanding of reality relative to the human mind. On the one hand, materialism focuses on the effect of physical or tangible things in the human’s condition and thinking. It believes that the truth lies in what could be seen, touched, and felt as compared to the ideas and conceptions of those things. On the other hand, Idealism focuses on the thoughts conceived by the human mind. This belief places a greater emphasis on perception and processing of ideas instead (Monalisa). Consequently, this dichotomy between the two bodies of thinking also applies to how they view society and culture. In Anthropological theories, Materialism views culture with greater objectivity (i.e., “humans as part of nature”) while Idealism utilises a more subjective approach (i.e., “humans are unique on their own”) (LosRios.edu). One of the issues of modern-day society where both approaches usually clash is that of war and the conditions behind it.
Perhaps one of the most prominent materialists known to humanity was Karl Marx. As one of the fathers of modern-sociology and the proponent of Marxism, Marx believed that human suffering is embedded on the underlying structures of the society (particularly the modes of production). Specifically, he said that as the gap between the different classes (proletarian and bourgeoisie) grow farther and farther, time will come when those differences would push the oppressed to rise and demolish the system. An even that he called the “proletarian revolution”. Consequently, this cause-and-effect is also apparent in the wars between different states, as some might oppress the others using the same logic. In turn, Marx believes that just like any other evils that torment human society, war is caused by the u...