Monism

For the academic journal, see The Monist.

The circled dot was used by the Pythagoreans and later Greeks to represent the first metaphysical being,
the Monad or The Absolute.

Monism is the view that attributes oneness or singleness (Greek: μόνος) to a concept
(e.g., existence). Various kinds of monism can be distinguished:
 Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them
(e.g., in Neoplatonism everything is derived from The One).[1] In this view only one thing is
ontologically basic or prior to everything else.
 Existence monism posits that, strictly speaking, there exists only a single thing (e.g., the
universe), which can only be artificially and arbitrarily divided into many things.[2]
 Substance monism ("stuff monism") asserts that a variety of existing things can be explained in
terms of a single reality or substance.[3] Substance monism posits that only one kind of stuff
(e.g., matter or mind) exists, although many things may be made out of this stuff.

DefinitionsEdit

There are two sorts of definitions for monism:

1. The wide definition: a philosophy is monistic if it postulates unity of origin of all things; all
existing things return to a source that is distinct from them.[1]
2. The restricted definition: this requires not only unity of origin but also unity
of substanceand essence.[1]

Although the term "monism" is derived from Western philosophy to typify positions in
the mind–body problem, it has also been used to typify religious traditions. In modern
Hinduism, the term "absolute monism" is being used for Advaita Vedanta.[4][5]
HistoryEdit
The term "monism" was introduced in the 18th century by Christian von Wolff[6] in his
work Logic (1728),[7] to designate types of philosophical thought in which the attempt
 was made to eliminate the dichotomy of body and mind[8] and explain all phenomena
by one unifying principle, or as manifestations of a single substance.[6]
The mind–body problem in philosophy examines the relationship between mind and
matter, and in particular the relationship between consciousness and the brain. The
problem was addressed by René Descartes in the 17th century, resulting in Cartesian
dualism, and by pre-Aristotelianphilosophers,[9][10] in Avicennian philosophy,[11] and
in earlier Asian and more specifically Indian traditions.
It was later also applied to the theory of absolute identity set forth
by Hegel and Schelling.[12] Thereafter the term was more broadly used, for any theory
postulating a unifying principle.[12] The opponent thesis of dualism[disambiguation
needed] also was broadened, to include pluralism.[12] According to Urmson, as a result of
this extended use, the term is "systematically ambiguous".[12]
According to Jonathan Schaffer, monism lost popularity due to the emergence
of Analytic philosophy in the early twentieth century, which revolted against the neo-
Hegelians. Carnap and Ayer, who were strong proponents of positivism, "ridiculed the
whole question as incoherent mysticism".[13]
The mind–body problem has reemerged in social psychology and related fields, with
the interest in mind–body interaction[14] and the rejection of Cartesian mind–body
dualism in the identity thesis, a modern form of monism.[15] Monism is also still
relevant to the philosophy of mind,[12] where various positions are defended.[16][17]
PhilosophyEdit
TypesEdit

A diagram with neutral monism compared to Cartesian dualism, physicalism and idealism.

Different types of monism include:[12][18]

1. Substance monism, "the view that the apparent plurality of substances is due to different
states or appearances of a single substance"[12]
2. Attributive monism, "the view that whatever the number of substances, they are of a single
ultimate kind"[12]
3. Partial monism, "within a given realm of being (however many there may be) there is only one
substance"[12]
4. Existence monism, "the view that there is only one concrete object token (The One, "Τὸ Ἕν" or
the Monad)"[19]
5. Priority monism, "the whole is prior to its parts" or "the world has parts, but the parts are
dependent fragments of an integrated whole"[18]
6. Property monism, "the view that all properties are of a single type (e.g., only physical
properties exist)"
7. Genus monism, "the doctrine that there is a highest category; e.g., being"[18]
 Views contrasting with monism are:

 Metaphysical dualism, which asserts that there are two ultimately irreconcilable substances or
realities such as Good and Evil, for example, Manichaeism,[1]
 Metaphysical pluralism, which asserts three or more fundamental substances or realities.[1]
 Metaphysical nihilism, negates any of the above categories (substances, properties, concrete
objects, etc.).

Monism in modern philosophy of mind can be divided into three broad categories:
1. Idealist, mentalistic monism, which holds that only mind or spirit is real[1]
2. Neutral monism, which holds that one sort of thing fundamentally exists,[20] to which both the
mental and the physical can be reduced[8]
3. Material monism (also called Physicalismand materialism), which holds that the material
world is primary, and consciousness arises through the interaction with the material
world[21][20]

a. Eliminative Materialism, according to which everything is physical and mental things

do not exist[20]
b. Reductive physicalism, according to which mental things do exist and are a kind of
physical thing[20][note 1]

Certain positions do not fit easily into the above categories, such
as functionalism, anomalous monism, and reflexive monism. Moreover, they do not
define the meaning of "real".
Monistic philosophersEdit
Pre-SocraticEdit
While the lack of information makes it difficult in some cases to be sure of the details,
the following pre-Socratic philosophers thought in monistic terms:[22]
 Thales: Water.
 Anaximander: Apeiron (meaning 'the undefined infinite'). Reality is some, one thing, but we
cannot know what.
 Anaximenes: Air.
 Heraclitus: Change, symbolized by fire (in that everything is in constant flux).
 Parmenides argued that Being or Reality is an unmoving perfect sphere, unchanging,
undivided.[23]

Post-SocratesEdit
 Neopythagorians such as Apollonius of Tyana centered their cosmologies on the Monad or
One.
 Stoics taught that there is only one substance, identified as God.
 Middle Platonism under such works as Numenius taught that the Universe emanates from the
Monad or One.
 Neoplatonism is monistic. Plotinus taught that there was an ineffable transcendent god, 'The
One,' of which subsequent realities were emanations. From The One emanates the Divine Mind
(Nous), the Cosmic Soul (Psyche), and the World (Cosmos).

ModernEdit
 Giordano Bruno[24][25]
 Baruch de Spinoza
 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
 Alexander Bogdanov
 Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
 F. H. Bradley
 Arthur Schopenhauer
 Ernst Haeckel[26][27]
 Jonathan Schaffer
 Georgi Plekhanov
 Friedrich Engels
 Karl Marx

Religion
See also
Notes
References
SourcesEdit
External linksEdit