One of the purposes of this essay will be to show that Idealism and Materialism are irreconcilable. Another will be to show that Idealism is false, and that Materialism is true. Besides giving us the correct solution to the mind/body problem, the truth of Materialism will have ramifications for how we ought to regard ourselves, and for how we ought to approach the world.
Furthermore, the implications that Materialism has for life and philosophy will be far-reaching. Idealism and Materialism have sharply differing implications for religion, politics, epistemology, education, drug use, and many other aspects of life or philosophy. Since our culture has typically tried to have both Idealism and Materialism, some of these implications may seem startling, whereas others may seem to be common sense. No matter how trivial or startling each implication may seem, though, the main point is that they all belong together as part of a consistent world view.