Social Change: Idealism vs Materialism

This video explores the tension in how two major traditions of sociology see social transformation happen.

[bladdnun]

This debate is somewhat similar to Nature vs. Nurture; it's obviously both, in varying ratios depending on the specific object of study.

[danhoenn]

This explanation is somewhat reductionist and misrepresentative. It’s an accurate summary of Materialism, but Marx practiced DIALECTICAL Materialism - the theory that both the Idealist perspective AND the Materialist perspective could be simultaneously true. It IS true that the Material conditions of society fundamentally shape the resulting culture, but it is ALSO true that the social and cultural conditions of a society shape the material conditions of that same society. The DIALECTIC teaches us that the material and ideological co-exist and constantly shape each other in many different ways. Explaining Marx’s material outlook without introducing Marx’s concept of the Dialectic **as it applies to** a Historical Materialist outlook is nearly a Lie by Omission!

[markk]

Idealism materialism . It’ll always be mind over matter. Money is empty, it doesn’t feed our soul, it’s obvious the world runs on spiritual forces or energy