It is known that matter is a category of philosophy that serves to describe the objective reality displayed by the human senses , but not existing independently of them. Matter is concentrated in a huge variety of objects, systems and forms, and since it is in constant motion, it is characterized by self-development, which eventually leads to the appearance of life and beings who can think. Matter itself is inexhaustible and has an orderly organization, while it is inseparable from the forms of motion.
If we consider the basic forms of the existence of matter, it should be noted that F. Engels identifies five of them:
1. Physical - electromagnetic, wave and gravitational fields, space systems, etc.
2. Chemical form - atoms, molecules, macromolecular complexes.
2. Biological - the entire biosphere, including humans.
3. The social form of existence of matter - society and man.
4. Mechanical - movement, that is, a change in position space.
However, matter is a substance that cannot be reduced only to these forms of existence, since there are other types of objective reality that are different in quality in the world . This includes time and space. In time, the sequence of the course of physical processes, their duration and the order of change of each other are expressed. Space also expresses the joint existence of things or their remoteness from each other, as well as the order of their location relative to each other.
Thus, considering what forms a given substance can take, we can distinguish the following unique properties of matter:
1. Unquenchable in time and unlimited in space, since matter has no beginning or end.
2. Continuous development, as well as the transition from one state to another, which indicates its ability to arise in another form in the event of the disappearance of a certain kind of it.
3. The presence of causality, that is, the dependence of the appearance of objects and phenomena on external factors.
4. Reflection, which is present in all ongoing processes and does not depend on external influences. The highest form of reflection is considered to be abstract thinking.
Based on these properties, many laws have been identified that are used in philosophy, dialectics, physics and other sciences.
Thus, matter is a substance characterized by inconsistency, relativity, and absoluteness.
Any philosophical doctrine has its own interpretation of the concept of “matter,” this is due to the search for an answer to the question of what came before: it or consciousness. Idealistic teachings deny its objective existence, while others defend the point of view that matter, generated by the spirit, develops and creates the material world. However, philosophy distinguishes matter, not only as material reality, but also as the whole of nature, which acts as an objective reality and has the sign of universality.
Thus, there are three stages in the evolution of the concept of “matter,” for which its following interpretations are characteristic: thing, property, and attitude. The first step is connected with the search for a specific subject, which is the fundamental principle of everything existing on Earth. This basis should have served as a substrate, for example, water or air. In the future, the nature of things is reduced not so much to the presence of a substrate as to the presence of certain properties, for example, mass, the carrier of which is a certain structure of the primary substance (atoms, elements, etc.). Over time, the concept of this concept also changes. Further, matter is a substance that, acting on the senses, can cause certain sensations. Therefore, this philosophical category means only that it is an objective reality that exists independently of human consciousness, but is displayed by it.