In philosophy, materialism is most often taken as a metaphysical thesis according to which everything that exists is matter or results from matter (including life and consciousness); this thesis offers a monist ontology that typically contrasts with idealism, dualism, and vitalism. Materialism also refers to an ethical doctrine according to which the material well-being (including wealth, health or pleasure) is to be sought after. In social sciences, historical materialism is the Marxian thesis that historical and social phenomena are determined by economic facts; it is a particular case of dialectical materialism that construes the universe as a whole within which objects cannot be understood in isolation of one another.
