Materiality is the conceptual framework humans built to categorize what counts as 'physical' or 'substantial' within a given domain. Parameters: (1) the domain of discourse (art, law, philosophy, commerce) sets the criteria for what qualifies as material; (2) materiality operates as a threshold of significance — something is 'material' when its presence or absence changes the outcome; (3) the map persists through disciplinary teaching, legal precedent, and cultural convention. Materiality is not the stuff of the world — it is the human-constructed filter that decides which stuff matters and by what standard. [formal: materialitas | substrate: mind | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
materiality
Materiality is the conceptual framework humans built to categorize what counts as 'physical' or 'substantial' within a given domain. Parameters: (1) the domain of discourse (art, law, philosophy, commerce) sets the criteria for what qualif…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made principle for determining which facts, errors, or items are significant enough to influence decisions, judgments, or reporting. Built to persist through professional standards (accounting GAAP/IFRS), legal precedent, institutional policy, and pedagogical transmission.
Names and aliases
- materialityen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrndsaht0282d1nll9cckx9qINSTANCE_OF →
Materiality is a specific kind of concept — the philosophical concept of the quality of being material or physical. A competent speaker would say 'materiality is a concept.' Note: my previous attempt (materiality INSTANCE_OF property) was wrong — materiality IS NOT its own property; it is a concept ABOUT the property of being material. Pinned sense: materiality as the philosophical construct, not physical substance itself.
Relations to this entry
- cmrs2i3q100kk7kw4ey58kym5← DEPENDS_ON
Embodiment (the concept) constitutively depends on materiality — it specifically concerns how MATERIAL embodiment shapes cognition. Remove materiality and embodiment loses its defining feature (becomes mere 'involvement'). The body in embodiment is understood as material substrate.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 19, 2026, 7:52 AM UTC
- Content hash
- d6a25c968ae6a4367a1526c362752343f726ea3931c4b64aafece4ef9da1bd9f