Ancient Naïve Materialism

The philosophical doctrine that interpreted the origin of the world by one or several concrete forms of matter. It generally refers to the various schools of ancient materialist philosophy.

Ancient naïve materialism was chiefly the theoretical summation made according to sensuous contemplative experience and a relatively shallow knowledge of nature. For example, the illustration of the origin of the world by using the five elements wuxing (gold, wood, water, fire and earth) or the essence qi (yin and yang, primordial qi and essential qi) in ancient China, by using atoms, water and fire in ancient Greece, by using the “four great elements” (earth, water, fire and wind) in ancient India and by using other forms of matter, lacked scientific proof and a rigorous logical system and had some speculative components.

With the expansion of people’s scope of practice and the improvement of their capacity for theoretical thinking, the comprehension of the origin of the world by the ancient naïve materialism began to break away from the limitations of specific forms of matter and assume the character of abstract generalization. The atomistic materialism of Democritus and Epicurus which appeared in Europe began to study the question of the origin of the world in terms of the material structure. They held that everything was composed of indivisible particles of matter called atoms. Ancient Chinese materialists held that everything in the universe was composed of qi, an extremely fine and flowing matter, and that qi was the origin of everything in the universe, putting forth the qi-monism.

Ancient naïve materialism is usually combined with naïve dialectics. While regarding the “five elements” as the origin of the world, ancient Chinese materialism also used the relation of “mutual generation and mutual conquest” (xiangsheng xiangke) between them to illustrate the interconnection and development of the world. The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus used “fire” to illustrate the dialectical scene of the development of the world, holding that the world is an all-encompassing whole, that it was, is and will be an ever-living fire kindling in measures and being extinguished in measures.