Monism 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. 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, the Universe,
which can only be artificially and arbitrarily
divided into many things.
Substance monism asserts that a variety of
existing things can be explained in terms
of a single reality or substance. Substance
monism posits that only one kind of stuff
exists, although many things may be made up
of this stuff, e.g., matter or mind.
== Definitions ==
There are two sorts of definitions for monism:
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.
The restricted definition: this requires not
only unity of origin but also unity of substance
and essence.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.
== History ==
The term "monism" was introduced in the 18th
century by Christian von Wolff in his work
Logic (1728), to designate types of philosophical
thought in which the attempt was made to eliminate
the dichotomy of body and mind and explain
all phenomena by one unifying principle, or
as manifestations of a single substance.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-Aristotelian
philosophers, in Avicennian philosophy, 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.
Thereafter the term was more broadly used,
for any theory postulating a unifying principle.
The opponent thesis of dualism also was broadened,
to include pluralism. According to Urmson,
as a result of this extended use, the term
is "systematically ambiguous".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".The mind–body problem has reemerged
in social psychology and related fields, with
the interest in mind–body interaction and
the rejection of Cartesian mind–body dualism
in the identity thesis, a modern form of monism.
Monism is also still relevant to the philosophy
of mind, where various positions are defended.
== Philosophy ==
=== Types ===
Different types of monism include:
Substance monism, "the view that the apparent
plurality of substances is due to different
states or appearances of a single substance"
Attributive monism, "the view that whatever
the number of substances, they are of a single
ultimate kind"
Partial monism, "within a given realm of being
(however many there may be) there is only
one substance"
Existence monism, "the view that there is
only one concrete object token (The One, "Τὸ
Ἕν" or the Monad)"
Priority monism, "the whole is prior to its
parts" or "the world has parts, but the parts
are dependent fragments of an integrated whole"
Property monism, "the view that all properties
are of a single type (e.g., only physical
properties exist)"
Genus monism, "the doctrine that there is
a highest category; e.g., being"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,
Metaphysical pluralism, which asserts three
or more fundamental substances or realities.
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:
Idealist, mentalistic monism, which holds
that only mind or spirit exists.
Neutral monism, which holds that one sort
of thing fundamentally exists, to which both
the mental and the physical can be reduced
Material monism (also called Physicalism and
materialism), which holds that the material
world is primary, and consciousness arises
through the interaction with the material
worlda. Eliminative Materialism, according
to which everything is physical and mental
things do not exist
b. Reductive physicalism, according to which
mental things do exist and are a kind of physical
thingCertain 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 philosophers ===
==== 
Pre-Socratic ====
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:
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.
==== Post-Socrates ====
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 those
by 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).
==== Modern ====
Giordano Bruno
Baruch de Spinoza
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Alexander Bogdanov
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
F. H. Bradley
Arthur Schopenhauer
Ernst Haeckel
Jonathan Schaffer
Georgi Plekhanov
Friedrich Engels
Karl Marx
Giacomo Leopardi
== Religion ==
=== Pantheism ===
Pantheism is the belief that everything composes
an all-encompassing, immanent God, or that
the universe (or nature) is identical with
divinity. Pantheists thus do not believe in
a personal or anthropomorphic god, but believe
that interpretations of the term differ.
Pantheism was popularized in the modern era
as both a theology and philosophy based on
the work of the 17th century philosopher Baruch
Spinoza, whose Ethics was an answer to Descartes'
famous dualist theory that the body and spirit
are separate. Spinoza held that the two are
the same, and this monism is a fundamental
quality of his philosophy. He was described
as a "God-intoxicated man," and used the word
God to describe the unity of all substance.
Although the term pantheism was not coined
until after his death, Spinoza is regarded
as its most celebrated advocate.H. P. Owen
claimed that
Pantheists are "monists" ... they believe
that there is only one Being, and that all
other forms of reality are either modes (or
appearances) of it or identical with it.
Pantheism is closely related to monism, as
pantheists too believe all of reality is one
substance, called Universe, God or Nature.
Panentheism, a slightly different concept
(explained below), however is dualistic. Some
of the most famous pantheists are the Stoics,
Giordano Bruno and Spinoza.
=== Panentheism ===
Panentheism (from Greek πᾶν (pân) "all";
ἐν (en) "in"; and θεός (theós) "God";
"all-in-God") is a belief system that posits
that the divine (be it a monotheistic God,
polytheistic gods, or an eternal cosmic animating
force) interpenetrates every part of nature,
but is not one with nature. Panentheism differentiates
itself from pantheism, which holds that the
divine is synonymous with the universe.In
panentheism, there are two types of substance,
"pan" the universe and God. The universe and
the divine are not ontologically equivalent.
God is viewed as the eternal animating force
within the universe. In some forms of panentheism,
the cosmos exists within God, who in turn
"transcends", "pervades" or is "in" the cosmos.
While pantheism asserts that 'All is God',
panentheism claims that God animates all of
the universe, and also transcends the universe.
In addition, some forms indicate that the
universe is contained within God, like in
the concept of Tzimtzum. Much Hindu thought
is highly characterized by panentheism and
pantheism. Hasidic Judaism merges the elite
ideal of nullification to paradoxical transcendent
Divine Panentheism, through intellectual articulation
of inner dimensions of Kabbalah, with the
populist emphasis on the panentheistic Divine
immanence in everything and deeds of kindness.
Paul Tillich has argued for such a concept
within Christian theology, as has liberal
biblical scholar Marcus Borg and mystical
theologian Matthew Fox, an Episcopal priest.
=== Pandeism ===
Pandeism or pan-deism (from Ancient Greek:
πᾶν, translit. pan, lit. 'all' and Latin:
deus meaning "god" in the sense of deism),
is a term describing beliefs coherently incorporating
or mixing logically reconcilable elements
of pantheism (that "God", or a metaphysically
equivalent creator deity, is identical to
Nature) and classical deism (that the creator-god
who designed the universe no longer exists
in a status where it can be reached, and can
instead be confirmed only by reason). It is
therefore most particularly the belief that
the creator of the universe actually became
the universe, and so ceased to exist as a
separate entity.Through this synergy pandeism
claims to answer primary objections to deism
(why would God create and then not interact
with the universe?) and to pantheism (how
did the universe originate and what is its
purpose?).
=== Brahmanic faiths ===
==== Characteristics ====
The central problem in Asian (religious) philosophy
is not the body-mind problem, but the search
for an unchanging Real or Absolute beyond
the world of appearances and changing phenomena,
and the search for liberation from dukkha
and the liberation from the cycle of rebirth.
In Hinduism, substance-ontology prevails,
seeing Brahman as the unchanging real beyond
the world of appearances. In Buddhism process
ontology is prevalent, seeing reality as empty
of an unchanging essence.Characteristic for
various Asian religions is the discernment
of levels of truth, an emphasis on intuitive-experiential
understanding of the Absolute such as jnana,
bodhi and kensho, and an emphasis on the integration
of these levels of truth and its understanding.
==== Hinduism ====
===== Vedanta =====
Vedanta is the inquiry into and systematisation
of the Vedas and Upanishads, to harmonise
the various and contrasting ideas that can
be found in those texts. Within Vedanta, different
schools exist:
Advaita Vedanta, absolute monism, of which
Adi Shankara is the best-known representative;
Vishishtadvaita, qualified monism, is from
the school of Ramanuja;
Shuddhadvaita, in-essence monism, is the school
of Vallabha;
Dvaitadvaita, differential monism, is a school
founded by Nimbarka;
Dvaita, dualism, is a school founded by Madhvacharya
is probably the only Vedantic System that
is opposed to all types of monism. It believes
that God is eternally different from souls
and matter in both form and essence.
Achintya Bheda Abheda, a school of Vedanta
representing the philosophy of inconceivable
one-ness and difference.
===== Advaita Vedanta =====
Monism is most clearly identified in Advaita
Vedanta, though Renard points out that this
may be a western interpretation, bypassing
the intuitive understanding of a nondual reality.In
Advaita Vedanta, Brahman is the eternal, unchanging,
infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality
which is the Divine Ground of all matter,
energy, time, space, being, and everything
beyond in this Universe. The nature of Brahman
is described as transpersonal, personal and
impersonal by different philosophical schools.Advaita
Vedanta gives an elaborate path to attain
moksha. It entails more than self-inquiry
or bare insight into one's real nature. Practice,
especially Jnana Yoga, is needed to "destroy
one’s tendencies (vAasanA-s)" before real
insight can be attained.Advaita took over
from the Madhyamika the idea of levels of
reality. Usually two levels are being mentioned,
but Shankara uses sublation as the criterion
to postulate an ontological hierarchy of three
levels:
Pāramārthika (paramartha, absolute), the
absolute level, "which is absolutely real
and into which both other reality levels can
be resolved". This experience can't be sublated
by any other experience.
Vyāvahārika (vyavahara), or samvriti-saya
(empirical or pragmatical), "our world of
experience, the phenomenal world that we handle
every day when we are awake". It is the level
in which both jiva (living creatures or individual
souls) and Iswara are true; here, the material
world is also true.
Prāthibhāsika (pratibhasika, apparent reality,
unreality), "reality based on imagination
alone". It is the level in which appearances
are actually false, like the illusion of a
snake over a rope, or a dream.
===== Vaishnava =====
All Vaishnava schools are panentheistic and
view the universe as part of Krishna or Narayana,
but see a plurality of souls and substances
within Brahman. Monistic theism, which includes
the concept of a personal god as a universal,
omnipotent Supreme Being who is both immanent
and transcendent, is prevalent within many
other schools of Hinduism as well.
===== Tantra =====
Tantra sees the Divine as both immanent and
transcendent. The Divine can be found in the
concrete world. Practices are aimed at transforming
the passions, instead of transcending them.
===== Modern Hinduism =====
The colonisation of India by the British had
a major impact on Hindu society. In response,
leading Hindu intellectuals started to study
western culture and philosophy, integrating
several western notions into Hinduism. This
modernised Hinduism, at its turn, has gained
popularity in the west.A major role was played
in the 19th century by Swami Vivekananda in
the revival of Hinduism, and the spread of
Advaita Vedanta to the west via the Ramakrishna
Mission. His interpretation of Advaita Vedanta
has been called Neo-Vedanta. In Advaita, Shankara
suggests meditation and Nirvikalpa Samadhi
are means to gain knowledge of the already
existing unity of Brahman and Atman, not the
highest goal itself:
[Y]oga is a meditative exercise of withdrawal
from the particular and identification with
the universal, leading to contemplation of
oneself as the most universal, namely, Consciousness.
This approach is different from the classical
Yoga of complete thought suppression.
Vivekananda, according to Gavin Flood, was
"a figure of great importance in the development
of a modern Hindu self-understanding and in
formulating the West's view of Hinduism."
Central to his philosophy is the idea that
the divine exists in all beings, that all
human beings can achieve union with this "innate
divinity", and that seeing this divine as
the essence of others will further love and
social harmony. According to Vivekananda,
there is an essential unity to Hinduism, which
underlies the diversity of its many forms.
According to Flood, Vivekananda's view of
Hinduism is the most common among Hindus today.
This monism, according to Flood, is at the
foundation of earlier Upanishads, to theosophy
in the later Vedanta tradition and in modern
Neo-Hinduism.
==== Buddhism ====
According to the Pāli Canon, both pluralism
(nānatta) and monism (ēkatta) are speculative
views. A Theravada commentary notes that the
former is similar to or associated with nihilism
(ucchēdavāda), and the latter is similar
to or associated with eternalism (sassatavada).
See middle way.
In the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism,
the ultimate nature of the world is described
as Śūnyatā or "emptiness", which is inseparable
from sensorial objects or anything else. That
appears to be a monist position, but the Madhyamaka
views - including variations like rangtong
and shentong - will refrain from asserting
any ultimately existent entity. They instead
deconstruct any detailed or conceptual assertions
about ultimate existence as resulting in absurd
consequences. The Yogacara view, a minority
school now only found among the Mahayana,
also rejects monism.
===== Levels of truth =====
Within Buddhism, a rich variety of philosophical
and pedagogical models can be found. Various
schools of Buddhism discern levels of truth:
The Two truths doctrine of the Madhyamaka
The Three Natures of the Yogacara
Essence-Function, or Absolute-relative in
Chinese and Korean Buddhism
The Trikaya-formule, consisting of
The Dharmakāya or Truth body which embodies
the very principle of enlightenment and knows
no limits or boundaries;
The Sambhogakāya or body of mutual enjoyment
which is a body of bliss or clear light manifestation;
The Nirmāṇakāya or created body which
manifests in time and space.The Prajnaparamita-sutras
and Madhyamaka emphasize the non-duality of
form and emptiness: "form is emptiness, emptiness
is form", as the heart sutra says. In Chinese
Buddhism this was understood to mean that
ultimate reality is not a transcendental realm,
but equal to the daily world of relative reality.
This idea fitted into the Chinese culture,
which emphasized the mundane world and society.
But this does not tell how the absolute is
present in the relative world:
To deny the duality of samsara and nirvana,
as the Perfection of Wisdom does, or to demonstrate
logically the error of dichotomizing conceptualization,
as Nagarjuna does, is not to address the question
of the relationship between samsara and nirvana
-or, in more philosophical terms, between
phenomenal and ultimate reality [...] What,
then, is the relationship between these two
realms?
This question is answered in such schemata
as the Five Ranks of Tozan, the Oxherding
Pictures, and Hakuin's Four ways of knowing.
==== Sikhism ====
Sikhism complies with the concept of Priority
Monism. Sikh philosophy advocates that all
that our senses comprehend is an illusion;
God is the sole reality. Forms being subject
to time shall pass away. God's Reality alone
is eternal and abiding. The thought is that
Atma (soul) is born from, and a reflection
of, ParamAtma (Supreme Soul), and "will again
merge into it", in the words of the Tenth
guru of Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, "just as
water merges back into the water."
ਜਿਉ ਜਲ ਮਹਿ ਜਲੁ ਆਇ
ਖਟਾਨਾ ॥
Jio Jal Mehi Jal Aae Khattaanaa ||
As water comes to blend with water,
ਤਿਉ ਜੋਤੀ ਸੰਗਿ ਜੋਤਿ
ਸਮਾਨਾ ॥
Thio Jothee Sang Joth Samaanaa ||
His light blends into the Light.
God and Soul are fundamentally the same; identical
in the same way as Fire and its sparks. "Atam
meh Ram, Ram meh Atam" which means "The Ultimate
Eternal reality resides in the Soul and the
Soul is contained in Him". As from one stream,
millions of waves arise and yet the waves,
made of water, again become water; in the
same way all souls have sprung from the Universal
Being and would blend again into it.
=== Abrahamic faiths ===
==== Judaism ====
Jewish thought considers God as separate from
all physical, created things (transcendent)
and as existing outside of time (eternal).According
to Chasidic Thought (particularly as propounded
by the 18th century, early 19th century founder
of Chabad, Shneur Zalman of Liadi), God is
held to be immanent within creation for two
interrelated reasons:
A very strong Jewish belief is that "[t]he
Divine life-force which brings [the universe]
into existence must constantly be present
... were this life-force to forsake [the universe]
for even one brief moment, it would revert
to a state of utter nothingness, as before
the creation ..."
Simultaneously, Judaism holds as axiomatic
that God is an absolute unity, and that he
is Perfectly Simple—thus, if his sustaining
power is within nature, then his essence is
also within nature.The Vilna Gaon was very
much against this philosophy, for he felt
that it would lead to pantheism and heresy.
According to some this is the main reason
for the Gaon's ban on Chasidism.
According to Maimonides, God is an incorporeal
being that caused all other existence. In
fact, God is defined as the necessary existent
that caused all other existence. According
to Maimonides, to admit corporeality to God
is tantamount to admitting complexity to God,
which is a contradiction to God as the First
Cause and constitutes heresy. While Hasidic
mystics considered the existence of the physical
world a contradiction to God's simpleness,
Maimonides saw no contradiction.
==== Christianity ====
===== Creator–creature distinction =====
Christianity strongly maintains the creator–creature
distinction as fundamental. Christians maintain
that God created the universe ex nihilo and
not from his own substance, so that the creator
is not to be confused with creation, but rather
transcends it (metaphysical dualism) (cf.
Genesis). Although, there is growing movement
to have a "Christian Panentheism". Even more
immanent concepts and theologies are to be
defined together with God's omnipotence, omnipresence
and omniscience, due to God's desire for intimate
contact with his own creation (cf. Acts 17:27).
Another use of the term "monism" is in Christian
anthropology to refer to the innate nature
of humankind as being holistic, as usually
opposed to bipartite and tripartite views.
===== Rejection of radical dualism =====
In On Free Choice of the Will, Augustine argued,
in the context of the problem of evil, that
evil is not the opposite of good, but rather
merely the absence of good, something that
does not have existence in itself. Likewise,
C. S. Lewis described evil as a "parasite"
in Mere Christianity, as he viewed evil as
something that cannot exist without good to
provide it with existence. Lewis went on to
argue against dualism from the basis of moral
absolutism, and rejected the dualistic notion
that God and Satan are opposites, arguing
instead that God has no equal, hence no opposite.
Lewis rather viewed Satan as the opposite
of Michael the archangel. Due to this, Lewis
instead argued for a more limited type of
dualism. Other theologians, such as Greg Boyd,
have argued in more depth that the Biblical
authors held a "limited dualism", meaning
that God and Satan do engage in real battle,
but only due to free will given by God, for
the duration God allows.Isaiah 45:5-7
5 I am the Lord, and there is none else, there
is no God beside me: I girded thee, though
thou hast not known me:
6 That they may know from the rising of the
sun, and from the west, that there is none
beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none
else.
7 I form the light, and create darkness: I
make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do
all these things.
===== Theosis =====
In Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy,
while human beings are not ontologically identical
with the Creator, they are nonetheless capable
with uniting with his Divine Nature via theosis,
and especially, through the devout reception
of the Holy Eucharist. This is a supernatural
union, over and above that natural union,
of which St. John of the Cross says, "it must
be known that God dwells and is present substantially
in every soul, even in that of the greatest
sinner in the world, and this union is natural."
Julian of Norwich, while maintaining the orthodox
duality of Creator and creature, nonetheless
speaks of God as "the true Father and true
Mother" of all natures; thus, he indwells
them substantially and thus preserves them
from annihilation, as without this sustaining
indwelling everything would cease to exist.However,
in Eastern Orthodoxy creation is united to
God by grace and not by nature. This is what
is known as the Essence-Energies distinction,
while in union with God, Orthodox Christians
believe, the human person retains its individuality
and is not swallowed up by the Monad.
===== Christian Monism =====
Some Christian theologians are avowed monists,
such as Paul Tillich. Since God is he "in
whom we live and move and have our being"
(Book of Acts 17.28), it follows that everything
that has being partakes in God.
==== Islam ====
===== Quran =====
Vincent Cornell argues that the Quran provides
a monist image of God by describing reality
as a unified whole, with God being a single
concept that would describe or ascribe all
existing things. But most argue that Semitic
religious scriptures, especially the Quran,
see creation and God as two separate existences.
It explains that everything has been created
by God and is under his control, but at the
same time distinguishes creation as being
dependent on the existence of God.
===== Sufism =====
Sufi mystics advocate monism. One of the most
notable being the 13th-century Persian poet
Rumi (1207–73) in his didactic poem Masnavi
espoused monism. Rumi says in the Masnavi,
In the shop for Unity (wahdat); anything that
you see there except the One is an idol.
The most influential of the Islamic monists
was the Sufi philosopher Ibn Arabi (1165–1240).
He developed the concept of 'unity of being'
(Arabic: waḥdat al-wujūd), a pantheistic
monoist philosophy. Born in al-Andalus, he
made an enormous impact on the Muslim world,
where he was crowned "the great Master". In
the centuries following his death, his ideas
became increasingly controversial.
=== Bahá'í ===
Although the Bahá'í teachings have a strong
emphasis on social and ethical issues, there
exist a number of foundational texts that
have been described as mystical. Some of these
include statements of a monist nature (e.g.,
The Seven Valleys and the Hidden Words). The
differences between dualist and monist views
are reconciled by the teaching that these
opposing viewpoints are caused by differences
in the observers themselves, not in that which
is observed. This is not a 'higher truth/lower
truth' position. God is unknowable. For man
it is impossible to acquire any direct knowledge
of God or the Absolute, because any knowledge
that one has, is relative.
=== Non-dualism ===
According to nondualism, many forms of religion
are based on an experiential or intuitive
understanding of "the Real". Nondualism, a
modern reinterpretation of these religions,
prefers the term "nondualism", instead of
monism, because this understanding is "nonconceptual",
"not graspable in an idea".To these nondual
traditions belong Hinduism (including Vedanta,
some forms of Yoga, and certain schools of
Shaivism), Taoism, Pantheism, Rastafari and
similar systems of thought.
== See also ==
Cosmic pluralism
Dialectical monism
Henosis
Holism
Indefinite monism
Material monism
Monistic idealism
Ontological pluralism
== Notes ==
== References ==
== Sources ==
== External links ==
Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). "Monism". Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Monism at PhilPapers
Monism at the Indiana Philosophy Ontology
Project
Catholic Encyclopedia - Monism
Hinduism's Online Lexicon - (search for Monism)
The Monist
