monism
Monism names the view that reality rests on one ultimate principle instead of two or many, covering idealistic, materialistic and substance varieties of that claim.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Definitions
- A philosophical claim that all phenomena reduce to a single ultimate constituent or agent, not to two or many primary principles (the standing contrast with dualism and pluralism).
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - In the typology of schools: an idealistic variety (matter as a manifestation of mind), a materialistic variety (mind reduced to matter), or a substance variety (matter and mind as aspects of one substance).
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Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 (Monism), open source - In older biological usage: a synonym of monogenesis, the thesis of a single origin of organisms (Webster 1913; rare in current English).
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Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 (Monism Biol. See Monogenesis), open source - In publicistic and everyday talk: a loose label for a drive toward one norm, one explaining principle or one model, often without a strict metaphysical cut.
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Examples
- The seminar opened by asking whether substance monism can stand without assuming an unknowable substrate.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - Her thesis lined monism up against dualism and pluralism, marking where a single principle ends.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - In the history handbook materialistic monism meant reducing mind to matter.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - The columnist used monism as a stand-in for "one norm at once", though the point was only rhetorical unification.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - He weighed idealistic monism against dualism, asking where one mental principle stops and two substances begin.
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Usage
Everyday English often treats monism as a tag for a single source of explanation: one substance, one norm, one model. Academic prose stays clearer when four layers stay apart: the metaphysical thesis of one ultimate constituent; the idealistic, materialistic and substance varieties; an older biological sense close to monogenesis; and a rhetorical figure. Pamphlets smear those layers together. State plainly whether you mean a doctrine, a school type, a biological label, or a jab. Otherwise the word melts into absolutism, reductionism and simple over-simplification.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Webster 1913 opens Monism with From Gr. and covers a doctrine that refers all phenomena to a single ultimate constituent or agent, naming dualism as the opposite. A note lists idealistic, materialistic and substance forms; biologically Monism points to Monogenesis. Monist names the adherent; Monistic is the adjective. Skeat 1910 has no separate MONISM entry; under MONAD and MONO- he traces μόνος (alone, sole). Those public-domain lemmas supply the lexical facts; this entry wording is written separately and does not copy dictionary phrasing.
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Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913; W. W. Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 1910, open sourceFrequent pairings are philosophical monism, metaphysical monism, materialistic monism, critique of monism, and defence of monism. As a noun monist labels someone who holds the view; monistic serves as the adjective. Careful writers keep the lemma clear of dualism (two principles), pluralism (many principles), bare absolutism talk about one sole power, and casual one-norm talk that only pushes a single model. Borders still shift by author.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Morphologically the noun joins a Greek base μόνος ("alone, sole") to the -ism ending, via the modern English formation monism. Webster already carries Monism, Monist and Monistic; Skeat records MONAD and MONO- from μόνος, without a separate MONISM lemma. Our senses lean on those open sources plus editorial wording, not on a modern encyclopaedia paraphrase. Treating the label as mere rhetorical unification alone softens the claim that one principle truly grounds reality.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Word forms
Regular English noun, usually uncountable; the plural monisms is rare and marks distinct kinds or historical versions of the stance.
word forms
| przypadek | forma |
|---|---|
| singular | monism |
| plural | monisms |
Word forms: Editorial team
Collocations
- philosophical monism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - metaphysical monism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - materialistic monism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - critique of monism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - defence of monism
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Synonyms · Antonyms
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open sourcesource
Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open sourceEtymology
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open sourcealso
W. W. Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Oxford 1910, open sourceRelated words
- monist , noun: person who holds monism (Webster 1913 Monist)
- monistic , adjective: pertaining to monism (Webster 1913 Monistic)
- monad , related noun: unit; from Latin monas from Greek μονάς from μόνος (Skeat 1910 MONAD; Webster 1913 Monad)
- mono- , related prefix: single, sole; from Greek μόνος (Skeat 1910 MONO-; Webster 1913 MONO-/MON-)
- dualism , related noun (contrastive): claim that reality rests on two principles rather than one
- pluralism , related noun (contrastive): claim that reality rests on many principles rather than one
- monizm , etymologically related Polish noun
Related entries
Questions and answers
What does monism mean?
In philosophy it names the thesis that being rests on one ultimate principle or substance. In school typology it covers idealistic, materialistic and substance varieties. In older biology it could mean monogenesis. Outside campus talk it often means any drive toward one norm. Scope follows register.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)How does monism differ from dualism and pluralism?
Monism affirms one principle; dualism affirms two; pluralism affirms many. Webster 1913 under Monism names dualism as the opposite. Casual speech often confuses all three labels with reductionism, dichotomy and simple many-voiced talk. Scope still depends on the author.
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Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open sourceIs monism the same as mere simplification?
No. Simplification is any reduction of detail. Monism, in the stricter philosophical senses, claims that one principle really grounds reality. Rhetoric often borrows the label for one-norm talk without that metaphysical claim.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Where does the word monism come from?
It joins Greek μόνος ("alone, sole") to the -ism ending. Webster 1913 records Monism (gloss From Gr.), together with Monist and Monistic, and biologically cross-refers to Monogenesis. Skeat 1910 skips a separate MONISM headword, yet lists MONAD and MONO- from μόνος. The English lemma follows that Greek path.