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monism |
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monism (mō`nĭzəm) [Gr.,=belief in one], in metaphysics, term introduced in the 18th cent. by Christian von Wolff Wolff or Wolf, Christian von (krĭs`tyän fən vôlf) ..... Click the link for more information. for any theory that explains all phenomena by one unifying principle or as manifestations of a single substance. Monistic theorists differ considerably in their choice of a basis of unification. It may be material, as with Ernst Haeckel Haeckel, Ernst Heinrich (ĕrnst hīn`rĭkh hĕ`kəl), 1834–1919, German biologist and philosopher. ..... Click the link for more information. , who took the substance, or energy, as the only reality. It may be spiritual, as with G. W. Hegel Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (gā`ôrkh vĭl`hĕlm frē`drĭkh hā`gəl) ..... Click the link for more information. , to whom mind, or spirit, is the reality by which all is to be explained. Or, as in Spinoza Spinoza, Baruch or Benedict (spinō`zə) ..... Click the link for more information. , it may be a substance, or Deity, of which body and mind are attributes that are held in equipoise. The opposites of monism are dualism dualism, any philosophical system that seeks to explain all phenomena in terms of two distinct and irreducible principles. It is opposed to monism and pluralism. In Plato 's philosophy there is an ultimate dualism of being and becoming, of ideas and matter. ..... Click the link for more information. and pluralism pluralism, in philosophy, theory that considers the universe explicable in terms of many principles or composed of many ultimate substances. It describes no particular system and may be embodied in such opposed philosophical concepts as materialism and idealism . ..... Click the link for more information. . monismIn metaphysics, the doctrine that the world is essentially one substance or contains only one kind of substance. Monism is opposed both to dualism and to pluralism. Examples of monism include materialism, pantheism, and metaphysical idealism. See also Benedict de Spinoza. monism 1. Philosophy the doctrine that the person consists of only a single substance, or that there is no crucial difference between mental and physical events or properties 2. Philosophy the doctrine that reality consists of an unchanging whole in which change is mere illusion 3. the epistemological theory that the object and datum of consciousness are identical How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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Opposed to them stand value monists, who think that the value of all goods in the world can ultimately be explained by their relation to one and only one value (the classic example is the utilitarian reduction of all value to pleasure, though it may also be argued that theists who believe all that is good derives from God's will are monists in this sense), and that any life that achieves more of that value is ipso facto better. He discusses two main narratives-one of decline, the other of progress-and divides Afrocentrists into "civilizationists," who are cultural monists, and cultural relativists, who are multicultural. But they were not in the tradition of the material monists, like Thales, who were trying to find one basic physical element; rather (and closer to Orphic tradition) their number theory was cosmogonic. |
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