matérialisme

Forms

matérialisme m (plural matérialismes)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned formation from French matériel + -isme.^[2][3][4][5] Littré derived it from matérialiser instead.^[6] This adjective is from Late Latin māteriālis, a Late and Scholastic Latin word,^[7] from māteria (“matter”).^[5]

According to the TLFi the term may first have appeared in England, coined by Robert Boyle in 1674;^[2][1] Etymonline, on the other hand, dates materialism to 1748 and derives it from the French word.^[8] The Dictionnaire historique notes that matérialiste came first (as an adjective in 1700, and as English materialist from 1668).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1702, in Leibniz's reply to Bayle, as the name of the philosophical doctrine that reduces everything to matter.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

The doctrine built on the atomism of Democritus and Lucretius, and the opposition of materialism and idealism entered philosophical writing early in the 18th century, with La Mettrie, Diderot, Helvétius and d'Holbach.^[9] This older, mechanistic materialism differs from matérialisme dialectique, a phrase that probably first appeared in German with the worker J. Dietzgen and was taken up by Engels in 1886.^[9] Matérialisme historique is recorded in the Larousse of 1931 and matérialisme dialectique in Camus in 1944.^[4]

Balzac used it in 1836 for a purely material existence (le matérialisme des sens).^[2] The everyday sense, an outlook bent on material goods and pleasures, is dated 1873 by the GLLF and the Petit Robert.^[4][5] English materialism came to mean a low view of life by the late 19th century.^[8]

Timeline

• 1674 – Robert Boyle may have coined the term in English.^[2]
• 1700 – The adjective matérialiste is recorded.^[9]
• 1702 – Leibniz uses matérialisme for the philosophical doctrine.^[2][9]
• 1748 – English materialism is recorded, from French.^[8]
• 1836 – Balzac writes of le matérialisme des sens.^[2]
• 1873 – The Larousse records the sense “taste for material goods”.^[4]
• 1931 – Matérialisme historique appears in the Larousse.^[4][5]
• 1944 – Camus uses matérialisme dialectique.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (philosophy) The doctrine that there is no substance but matter, and no spiritual principle; materialism.^[2][5][6]
2. (philosophy) Matérialisme historique, matérialisme dialectique: the doctrine of Karl Marx and his followers, marxisme.^[5][4]
3. An outlook given to seeking material wealth and pleasures: le matérialisme de notre époque.^[5][1]

Related words

• matériel
• matérialiste
• matière
• spiritualisme
• Latin māteria

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert