spiritual causes and methodological materialism

Autobiographical narratives of spiritual experiences: Solitude, tragedy, and the absence of materialism

What are the differences between experiences that people consider spiritual and experiences that they consider enjoyable? Participants were asked to provide autobiographical narratives of either spiritual or enjoyable experiences, and the two types of narratives were compared. In Study 1 (n= 142), the differences between the narratives was established via judge-based thematic content analysis. ...

Materialism and food security.

The present studies examined if materialists have an elevated concern about food availability, presumably stemming from a general survival security motivation. Study 1 found that materialists set a greater life goal of food security, and reported more food insecurity during their childhood. Materialists reported less present-day food insecurity. Study 2 revealed that materialists stored/hoarded...

Materialism and modern medicine.

Ecology and Historical Materialism

Against Materialism

Materialism is the idea that human beings are material objects—brains, perhaps, or some part of the brain—without immaterial selves or souls. I give two arguments against materialism. The first is an argument from possibility: it is possible that I should exist when no part of my body exists, in which case I am not identical with my body or any part of my body. The second is an argument from im...

Anointing without Money: Exploring the Relationships between Materialism, Happiness and Daily Spiritual Experience in a Nigerian Sample

Materialism, happiness and spiritualism seem inseparable and represent areas that have continued to dominate human life and yet have attracted limited research interests, especially in Nigeria. The present study employed the multi-stage sampling technique to investigate the relationship between materialism, happiness and daily spiritual experience among 142 participants drawn from across 3 reli...