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Materialisms and Why They Matter, Part 3

Materialism Then

In the first article of this series we noted that, according to the common notion of materialism, materialists are people who put their hope in material possessions. Materialists think the good life consists in owning stuff and using stuff. The more they own, and the more they have to use, the happier they'll be, they think.¹ We arrived at this conclusion by comparing three pairs of people and noting that, the way most of us use the word "materialist," the member of each pair who owned more things, used more things and/or desired more things was more of a materialist than the other members.

After making these comparisons, we introduced three terms: "ontological materialism," "axiological materialism" and "consumer materialism." To recap, here's what they mean.

• Ontological Materialism: the view that only material things exist. Since material things are composed of (what else?) matter, ontological materialism amounts to the view that nothing exists that isn't made out of matter.
• Axiological Materialism: the view that, even if ontological materialism is wrong and material things aren't the only things that exist, material things are still the most important things. Axiological materialism tells us what to value, and it says that we shouldn't care too much about immaterial things.
• Consumer Materialism: a variety of axiological materialism: the view that material things like SUVs, plasma TVs and diamond rings are the key to human wellbeing. On this view, the more we own, the happier we'll be. Consumer materialism is just what most of us think of when we hear the word "materialism."

By the conclusion of the second article of this series, we arrived at the following insights: first, that ontological materialism leads logically to axiological materialism; second, that axiological materialism leads psychologically to ontological materialism; third, that consumer materialism isn't any worse than any other variety of axiological materialism.

This last insight is probably the most important of the three, and it is certainly the most contentious, so let me defend it a bit further.

Two Parables

Anything made up entirely out of matter is a material thing. If you arrange matter one way, you get an SUV; if you arrange it another way, you get a mansion in the suburbs; if you arrange it yet another way, you get a dollar bill. Natural objects can be material objects too, however, and so can all variety of other things that we don't usually associate with materialism. The glaciers of Antarctica are arrangements of matter, for example, and so are the paintings in the Uffizi, the organs in your body, and the enormous Sequoias in Yosemite National Park.

Bearing in mind that Mt. Everest, the Mona Lisa and your own heart are no less material objects than diamond rings, Cadillac Escalades and leather couches, compare the following parables:

The Parable of the Myopic Pastor

A pastor preached a sermon on lust. He said men should control their passions for redheads. He said they shouldn't entertain inappropriate thoughts about redheaded women. He suggested that, in order to control their lust, men should avoid swimming at pools where redheaded women sunbathe, they should not rent R-rated movies that star redheaded women, and so on. After the sermon a man who liked brunettes asked the pastor why he only mentioned redheads. "I suppose it might be possible to have inappropriate thoughts about non-redheaded women," the pastor said. "I've never really thought about it. In any case, today's sermon was on lust, and that's why I only mentioned redheads." The pastor went home proud of his moral insight. The man went home wondering how there could possibly be an important moral difference between inappropriate thoughts about redheads and inappropriate thoughts about other women.

The Parable of the Myopic Professor

A professor at a Christian college taught a class on materialism. He said Christians should not put their hope in material things such as SUVs and plasma screens. He said they shouldn't watch too much TV since advertising makes us think consumer products will make us happy. He suggested that, in order to not put their hope in bigger houses, nicer cars, and things like that, Christians should remind themselves that true happiness can only be found in a relationship with Christ. After the class a girl asked the professor why, out of all the material things there are, he focused exclusively on material things like cars and houses. She mentioned that paintings and sculptures are just as much material objects as cars and houses, and she said she often found herself more interested in these things than she was in God. "I suppose it might be possible to care too much about material things like paintings," the professor replied. "I've never really thought about it. In any case, today's class was on materialism, and that's why I only mentioned SUVs, plasma TVs, and stuff like that." The prof went home proud of his moral insight. The girl went home wondering how there could possibly be an important moral difference between preoccupation with consumer products and preoccupation with the other material things that fill the world.

Materialism Now

Comparing the parables above, the point I want to make is this: Focusing on consumer materialism to the exclusion of all other forms of materialism makes about as much sense as focusing on lust after redheads to the exclusion of all other forms of lust. Whatever makes lusting after a redhead wrong makes lusting after anyone wrong. Hair color just doesn't matter. In the same way, whatever makes preoccupation with consumer goods wrong should make preoccupation with any material object wrong. Sequoia trees and SUVs are both material objects. They take different shapes and play different roles in human life, but it's hard to see how this difference could be morally significant.

To pick an example and put this point in more concrete terms, denying that environmentalism is a form of materialism makes about as much sense as denying that inappropriate thoughts about brunettes are a form of lust. Since the environment consists entirely of material things like trees and glaciers and greenhouse gasses, to be an environmentalist is to be a materialist. But this forces an important change in our vocabulary. Rather than being a warning against materialism, Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth is better described as a materialist manifesto. Gore's argument in An Inconvenient Truth is, essentially, that we ought to limit our consumption of material resources because, at our present rate of consumption, we are harming other material objects we value. But this is just to criticize one form of materialism in favor of another.

Of course, environmentalism isn't the only new way to be a materialist. In addition to preoccupation with the environment, preoccupation with physical fitness, preoccupation with books, preoccupation with works of art, preoccupation with fine wines, and preoccupations with so many other material things are also ways of being a materialist.

We said earlier that ontological materialism leads logically to axiological materialism, that axiological materialism leads psychologically to ontological materialism, and that consumer materialism isn't any worse than any other variety of axiological materialism. These connections suggest a much broader understanding of materialism than the one we started this series with. As it happens, the notion of materialism they suggest comes straight out of Webster's:

Materialism:

1. A theory that physical matter is the only reality and that all processes and phenomena can be explained as manifestations of matter
2. the doctrine that the highest values lie in material well-being: a preoccupation with or stress upon material rather than spiritual things.²

This notion of materialism corrects the myopia that results when we use "materialism" only in connection with consumer goods. This is an improvement because materialism (in the broad sense as well as the narrow sense) stands in the way of our relationship with God, and this notion of materialism allows us to see that the shopper on the left may be no more of a materialist than the yoga instructor, the student, the sculptor and the backpacker in the pictures on the right.³

C O F F E E  S H O P

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What do you think of Blake's ideas about all types of materialism being detrimental?

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What is the alternative to materialism, then? If materialism is a much broader tent then we originally thought, what other tent is there? I'm going to call this other tent "dualism." In my next article, I'll say what dualism amounts to, how dualism relates to Christian faith, and how distinguishing between dualism and materialism can result, not only in healthier spiritual lives, but in more effective interaction with non-Christians.