Why did Wilhelm Ostwald argue that energy was more fundamental than matter?

Wilhelm Ostwald argued that energy was more fundamental than matter because he believed that thermodynamics was the foundational theory of science. Influenced by the work of Josiah Willard Gibbs, Ostwald developed a metaphysical interpretation of the world he called "energetics," which posited that matter is merely a manifestation of energy.1

By asserting the primacy of energy, Ostwald sought to oppose the prevailing scientific materialism of his time. He reformulated 17th-century concepts of dynamism from Gottfried Leibniz through the lens of thermodynamic principles. This belief system led him to reject atomism for roughly 15 years, as he favored concepts strictly founded on empirical, observable grounds—a position aligned with positivism—until he eventually acknowledged the growing experimental evidence for the atomic hypothesis in 1909.1