earticle

영어

New Materialism has been quite successful in bringing back the ontology of matter and materiality in order to overcome the binary oppositions between spirit and matter. However, it is very ironic that New Materialism has recourse to the mystic monism of materiality to go beyond the traditional dualism. Against the monism, this essay suggests practical materialism as a critical way of genuinely overcoming the dualism of idealism and materialism. First, the Hegelian dialectic will be discussed in terms of the essence-and-appearance opposition. Then, Karl Marx’s criticism of Ludwig Feuerbach’s “contemplative materialism” is to be dealt. According to Marx, the practical materialism, which relies on the Hegelian dialectics of “rising from the abstract to the concrete,” should overcome the dogmatic dualism of idealism and materialism by way of practical activity including dialectically both the concrete social reality and the abstract conceptual practice. In this sense, the practical materialism should be regarded as a more viable option for surpassing the limit of dualism rather than New Materialism.