Monism

Monism is the philosophical belief that there is only one ‘thing’ that actually exists, the world (i.e. universe) is not composed of many, individual, and distinct entities - but rather a single substance, whatever it may be. One form of monism [the ‘existence’ strand] states that there only exists one entity that is undividable - it is only man that mentally abstracts the various kinds and particulars that the monists reject. Another form is that of priority monism, which states that there is only one true substance or thing in the world, and all the rest are derived from that original. Spinoza’s monism is similar to this kind in that there is an infinite God from which everything else is a part of; but since things such as humans or trees are not infinite like God is, those things are subordinate, in a sense, to God (though Spinoza’s monism has a pantheistic element, this is not necessary to hold this priority monism). Apart from analyzing the ontological structure of the world as a whole, monism is of special importance surrounding the mind-body debate. The mind and body may be two distinct substances, which the dualists hold (see separate entry), or the mind/body may merely be the exact same thing (perhaps all physical) - just referenced differently. Since metaphysics deals with what ‘is’, beliefs that answer this question directly (which monism does) are of great and continued importance.