Im`ma*te"ri*al*ism (?), n. [Cf. F.
immatérialisme.] 1. The doctrine
that immaterial substances or spiritual being exist, or are
possible.
2. (Philos.) The doctrine that
external bodies may be reduced to mind and ideas in a mind; any
doctrine opposed to materialism or phenomenalism, esp. a system that
maintains the immateriality of the soul; idealism; esp., Bishop
Berkeley's theory of idealism.