materialsexists

Materialsexists is a neologism used in philosophy of ontology to describe a stance that asserts that only material entities exist in a robust sense. Proponents argue that existence is exhausted by matter and physical processes; what is not material either does not exist or is simply a derivative of material configurations. The term is typically presented as a stricter variant of materialism or physicalism, intended to foreground an ontological commitment to matter as the primary or sole category of existence. Materialsexists usually reject the independent existence of abstract objects, properties, or mental states as real in their own right, though they may acknowledge their useful or instrumental status.

Etymology and usage: The word is a contemporary coinage and is not standardized; different authors apply it with varying scope, sometimes as a rhetorical device to stress exclusivity of material entailments.

Relation to other views: It differs from standard materialism by insisting on exclusivity of material existence; it overlaps with physicalist and eliminativist positions in its rejection of nonmaterial explanations, but it is not a widely adopted label in mainstream philosophy.

Critique and challenges: Critics argue that it faces serious difficulties accounting for mathematics, logic, consciousness, ethical properties, and other ostensibly nonmaterial phenomena; many scientists and philosophers contend that abstract notions play indispensable roles in explanation and reasoning. The term thus remains a niche and debated label.

See also: materialism, physicalism, ontology, metaphysics, abstract object theory, eliminative materialism.