immateriality

Immateriality is the quality or state of being immaterial—not composed of matter or lacking physical substance. In philosophy and related fields, it is used to describe entities, properties, or phenomena that are not physical. This can include mental states, thoughts, mathematical objects, abstract relations, or spiritual beings in various religious and metaphysical frameworks.

Within metaphysics, immateriality raises questions about what exists independently of matter and how such entities can be known. Abstract objects such as numbers or propositions, and mental phenomena like consciousness or intentionality, are often cited as immaterial. The term is also used more loosely to describe intangible assets, experiences, or information that do not occupy space in a conventional sense.

Philosophical positions differ on immateriality. Physicalism or materialism holds that everything ultimately reduces to physical processes, denying fundamental immaterial substances. Dualism and certain forms of idealism maintain the existence of immaterial substances, such as mind or spiritual entities. Platonism defends the existence of abstract, nonphysical objects, while some Kantian views distinguish between things as they appear and noumena.

The concept has practical implications in cognitive science, mathematics, theology, and law. In theology, immaterial beings such as angels or God are described as nonmaterial. In science and philosophy of mind, debates about immateriality inform questions about consciousness and the nature of knowledge. Critics argue that many apparent immaterial phenomena may ultimately be explained by physical or functional accounts.