Nonmaterialists

Nonmaterialists are philosophers and thinkers who contend that reality is not exhausted by material substance. They argue that nonmaterial substances, properties, or entities—such as minds, souls, or mental properties—play a fundamental role in the world. The term is commonly used in contrast to materialism, which holds that matter and its interactions constitute the basic ontology of reality.

Historically, nonmaterialist positions include idealism or immaterialism, which treat reality as fundamentally mental or nonphysical (as in Berkeley); and dualist theories that posit mind and body as distinct substances (substance dualism) or that mental properties cannot be reduced to physical ones (property dualism). Some contemporary proponents also advocate panpsychism, the idea that mental aspects are widespread and intrinsic to matter.

Nonmaterialism is often invoked in debates about the mind–body problem, consciousness, intentionality, and personal identity. Critics point to difficulties like explaining causal interaction in dualism or the apparent sufficiency of physical explanations for most phenomena, while defenders argue that certain aspects of experience resist reduction to physical terms. In religious and spiritual contexts, nonmaterialism commonly appears in accounts of souls, afterlife, or nonphysical causal forces.

In current discourse, nonmaterialist positions persist in philosophy of mind and metaphysics, though many philosophers favor materialist or physicalist frameworks. The label encompasses diverse positions with different arguments and commitments, united by the claim that matter alone does not suffice to ground all of reality.