Monism is a philosophical position that recognizes the unity of the world, namely the similarity of all objects included in it, the relationship between them and the self-development of the whole that they form. Monism is one of the options for considering the diversity of world phenomena in the light of a single principle, the common basis of everything that exists. The opposite of monism is dualism, which recognizes two principles independent of each other, and pluralism, based on the plurality of principles.
Meaning and types of monism
There is concrete-scientific and ideological monism. The main goal of the first is to find commonality in the phenomena of a particular class: mathematical, chemical, social, physical, and so on. The task of the second is to find a single basis for all existing phenomena. According to the nature of the solution of such a philosophical question as the ratio of thinking and being, monism is divided into three varieties:
- Subjective idealism.
- Materialism.
- Objective idealism.
The subjective idealist interprets the world as the content of a personal mind and sees this asits unity. Materialistic monism recognizes the objective world, interprets all phenomena as forms of the existence of matter or its properties. The objective idealist recognizes both his own consciousness and the world that exists outside of it.
The concept of monism
Monism is a concept that recognizes one substance as the basis of the world. That is, this direction of philosophy proceeds from a single beginning, in contrast to dualism and pluralism, directions that are unable to substantiate the relationship between the spiritual and the material. Monism sees the solution to this problem as the unity of the world, the common basis of being. Depending on what is recognized as this basis, monism is divided into materialistic and idealistic.
Principle of monism
Monism seeks to reduce to a single fundamental principle all the diversity of the world. Such a desire appears as a result of reflections on the pattern that manifests itself when moving from the whole to the parts. The number of opening objects with such a division increases, and their diversity decreases. For example, there are more cells than living organisms, but there are fewer types of them. There are fewer molecules than atoms, but they are more diverse. By passing to the limit, it is concluded that as a result of a decrease in diversity when moving inside the object, there will be a completely homogeneous primary substrate. This is the basic principle of monism.
Principles of monism is the search for such a fundamental principle. And this task has been paramount since the emergence of the philosophy of monism. For example, Heraclitus argued that allconsists of fire, Thales - of water, Democritus - of atoms, and so on. The last attempt to find and substantiate the fundamental principle of the world was made by E. Haeckel at the end of the 19th century. Here, ether was proposed as the basis.
Forms of monism
Monism is a way of solving the main question in philosophy, which, taking into account the understanding of the sought-after fundamental principle of the world, is divided into continuous and discrete forms. Continuum monism describes the world in terms of form and substratum, while discrete monism describes the world in terms of structure and elements. The first was represented by such philosophers as Hegel, Heraclitus, Aristotle. Representatives of the second are Democritus, Leibniz and others.
For a monist, finding the fundamental principle is not the main goal. Having reached the desired primary substrate, he gets the opportunity to move in the opposite direction, from parts to the whole. The definition of commonality allows you to find a connection initially between the primary elements, and then between their more complex compounds. Movement to the whole from its primary elements can be done in two ways: diachronic and synchronic.
At the same time, monism is not only a point of view, but also a way of research. For example, the theory of mathematical numbers derives the set of its objects from a natural number. In geometry, a point is taken as the basis. Monistic approach within one science tried to apply in the development of worldview monism. Thus, doctrines appeared that considered mechanical movement (mechanism), number (Pythagoras), physical processes (physicalism) and so on to be the world basis. If in the processdifficulties arose, this led to the rejection of monism by pluralism.
Political monism
In the political sphere, monism is expressed in the establishment of a one-party system, in the destruction of the opposition, civil liberties and the system of separation of powers. This can include leaderism and the absolute combination of the party and state apparatus. Cultivation of violence, terror and mass repression.
In the economy, monism is manifested by the establishment of one state form of ownership, a planned economy or monopoly control of the economy by the state. In the spiritual sphere, this is expressed in the recognition of only the official ideology, which is called upon to deny the past and the present in the name of the future. Such an ideology determines the regime's right to exist, fights dissent, and completely controls the media.
