Skip to main content
Dictionary
Store
Blog
World
Help
Advertise
Chat
System Status
Information Collection Notice
Trademark Concerns
reCAPTCHA Privacy
Terms of Service
reCAPTCHA Terms
Privacy Policy
Accessibility
Report a Bug
Data Request
Contact Us
Security
DMCA
© 1999–2026 Urban Dictionary ®
Mugs
Tees
Hoodies
Pro Customization
Create unique products with your own words and definitions
Preview
Personalize Your Design
Your Word
Your Definition
A philosophical framework holding that matter and its properties are context-dependent—that what counts as a material object, how it behaves, and what it means vary with the scale, conditions, and theoretical framework in which it is considered. Material contextualism challenges the view of matter as a substance with fixed, intrinsic properties. An electron is a particle in some contexts, a wave in others; water is H₂O in chemistry, a thirst-quencher in life, a solvent in biology. Contextualism doesn't deny that matter exists, but insists that its properties are always properties-in-context. It demands that scientists and philosophers attend to the conditions that constitute material phenomena.
Text fits
Save
Cancel