Traces the materialist hypothesis that all existence is an unbroken, material continuum from its origins in ancient Greece to modern times. Starting with Lucretius' first-century-BC poem, "The Nature of Things", this work concludes by examining the 20th century literature of mind-brain materialism.

This well-researched study traces the materialist hypothesis that all existence is an unbroken, material continuum from its origins in ancient Greece to modern times. Starting with Lucretius' great first-century-BC poem, The Nature of Things, it proceeds through Enlightenment materialism and Paul d'Holbach's masterpiece, The System of Nature, to 19th century materialism and Ludwig Bÿchner's epochal Force and Matter. It concludes by examining the 20th century literature of mind-brain materialism. Addressed to specialists and general readerse alike, Vitzthum's interdisciplinary approach avoids technical jargon as it critically reviews the premises and literature of materialism from philosophical, historical, scientific, and literary perspectives.