Materialism may be at the centre of today’s important scientific, cultural and philosophical debates, but it is far from being fully understood. In this succinct, intellectually stimulating introduction, Terry Eagleton elaborates a concept of materialism that straddles our animality and our rationality. He argues that it is precisely our materiality—our bodies, our corporeal activity and means of being in the world—that defines us and makes thought and consciousness possible.

Eagleton considers afresh the values and beliefs of three very different materialists—Marx, Nietzsche, and Wittgenstein—drawing striking comparisons between their philosophies. Reflecting on a wide array of topics, from ideology and history to language, ethics, and the aesthetic, Materialism is a valuable exposition on philosophical thought that strikes to the heart of how we think about ourselves and the world in which we live.

Terry Eagleton is Distinguished Professor of English Literature at the University of Lancaster and Professor of Cultural Theory at the National University of Ireland. His most recent books are Culture, Hope Without Optimism, Culture and the Death of God, How to Read Literature, The Event of Literature, Why Marx was Right, On Evil and Reason, Faith and Revolution, all published by Yale in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009 respectively.