1.2.7.2 Monism

Version 1.0 September 2016                                        (Previous Version)

Monism is the idea that everything is one, or everything is one fundamental substance.  The multitude of different things that we see around us all come from the same original source or are made of the same fundamental substance.  This is in contrast to dualism which says that there are two fundamental types of substance, generally mental (mind or spirit) and physical (or matter). 

Idealism is a form of monism that says the single fundamental substance is immaterial or mental.

The materialistic approach we adopt here includes the two central ideas of monism: that

●   the Whole Universe includes everything, including any spirits or gods that exist: it is the One;

●   the fundamental substance of the universe is mass-energy that exists in space-time.

But there are other forms of monism that posit that everything comes from some kind of God, or that the fundamental substance of the universe is God or mental events.

●   In non-dual schools of Hinduism, such as the monist Advaita Vedanta, Brahman (the highest principle or ultimate reality) is identical to the Atman (our personality, soul or ego), Brahman is everywhere and inside each living being, and all of existence is connected is a spiritual oneness;

●   Some Jews, Christians and (Muslim) Sufis believe in an immanent rather than transcendent God, that is, a god that is part of and within the world, not outside or above it, so the whole universe is a reflection of God’s essence, which is a form of monism.

●   Pantheism is closely related to monism, as pantheists too believe all of reality is one substance, called Universe, God or Nature;

In Chapters 1.3 (Theology) and 1.4 (Mind-Body Problem) we reject a belief in God or similar supernatural beings and we further reject the idea that non-physical substances are required to explain consciousness.  We don't need to cover the same ground here.  But we can emphasise that we don't need to believe in God or a world of non-physical mental events to explain values, meaning or purpose.  And ideas about God or non-physical mental events don't simplify our explanations of consciousness or mind in general.  So we reject these other forms of monism.