Matter vs. Spirit: Philosophical Perspectives on Reality

Defining Reality: Material and Spiritual

Philosophers distinguish two types of reality: material and immaterial (or spiritual). The relationships proposed between them include:

1. Exclusion: The existence of one kind excludes the existence of the other (characteristic of metaphysical materialism or spiritualism).
2. Coexistence: They may interact, but interaction is considered very difficult as they are radically different.
3. Basis: One reality serves as the foundation or basis upon which the other is built.

Plato and Aristotle: Foundational Views

It is sometimes argued that Plato resolved fundamental philosophical issues, with later philosophers primarily commenting, nuancing, and explaining his work. Aristotle (often associated with a more material perspective) was a pupil of Plato (associated with a more spiritual perspective), and subsequent philosophers frequently aligned themselves with one viewpoint or the other.

The Concept of Spirit

The term originates from spiritus (Latin), meaning breath. In a metaphysical context, spiritualism is the philosophical claim that the basic and fundamental nature of reality is spirit or is spiritual in character.

George Berkeley's Spiritualism

George Berkeley (1685-1753) is arguably the most radical philosopher who coherently argued for a spiritual metaphysics, despite being an empiricist. His famous dictum is "Esse est percipi aut percipere" (To be is to be perceived or to perceive). According to Berkeley, the concept of matter was merely an empty and abstract idea.

Understanding Matter

Matter is a philosophical concept, distinct from its scientific conception. Philosophically, it addresses what things are made of. There are different types and two main approaches to understanding the subject:

• Metaphysical: Matter viewed as the underlying substance or potentiality from which something can be made.
• Philosophical (vs. Scientific): Matter as that which composes things. Things that have been made previously existed as something else and are now another thing.

Key metaphysical concepts related to matter include:

1. Substrate of Change: The underlying part that persists through changes, allowing something to become many things while its core existence remains unaltered.
2. Element: That which composes things.
3. Object of Perception: Matter comprises all things perceived by the senses.

The Elusive Self

The self is often described as unattainable or elusive (inasible). It's like trying to grasp the act of writing on a computer – one focuses on what is being written, not the fundamental 'who' or 'what' that is performing the action.