In this short article, the author discusses the conflict between materialistic and transcendental paradigms in accounting for the nature of reality. After speculating on the meaning and implications of an idealist perspective where consciousness is seen as the fundamental ground of all phenomena, the author reframes the consciousness versus matter debate in terms of complex systems theory. Such a reframing allows for the mutual coexistence of both matter and consciousness in a manner which is nonreductive and inclusive of different epistemologies.