Monism is .... The concept, meaning, principles of monism

Monism is a philosophical position that recognizes the unity of the world, namely the similarity of all the objects included in it, the relationship between them and the self-development of the whole that they form. Monism - one of the options to consider the diversity of world phenomena in the light of a single beginning, the common basis of all that exists. The opposite of monism is dualism, which recognizes two independent from each other beginning, and pluralism, based on the plurality of beginnings.

Value and types of monism

There is a concrete scientific and ideological monism. The main goal of the first is to find commonality in the phenomena of a concrete class: mathematical, chemical, social, physical, and so on. The second task is to find a unified basis for all existing phenomena. By the nature of the solution of such a philosophical question as the relationship between thinking and being, monism is divided into three varieties:

1. Subjective idealism.
2. Materialism.
3. Objective idealism.

The subjective idealist treats the world as the content of the personal mind and in this sees its unity. Materialistic monism recognizes the objective world, treats all phenomena as forms of existence of matter or its properties. The objective idealist recognizes both his own consciousness and the world that exists beyond its limits.

The concept of monism

Monism is a concept that recognizes one substance as the basis of the world. That is, this line of philosophy proceeds from a single beginning, unlike dualism and pluralism, directions that are unable to substantiate the relationship between the spiritual and the material. By solving this problem, monism sees the unity of the world, the common basis of being. Depending on what is recognized for this foundation, monism is divided into materialistic and idealistic.

Principle of Monism

Monism seeks to reduce the diversity of the world to a single fundamental principle. This aspiration appears as a result of reflection on the regularity manifested when moving from the whole to the parts. The number of objects opening with this division increases, and their variety decreases. For example, there are more cells than living organisms, but there are fewer species. Molecules are smaller than atoms, but they are more diverse. By the passage to the limit, it is concluded that as a result of a reduction in diversity, when moving into the object, there will be a completely homogeneous primusstrate. This is the basic principle of monism.

The principles of monism are the search for such a fundamental principle. And this task has been paramount since the emergence of the philosophy of monism. For example, Heraclitus claimed that everything consists of fire, Thales from water, Democritus from atoms and so on. The last attempt to find and substantiate the foundation of the world was undertaken by E. Haeckel at the end of the 19th century. Here as a basis the ether was offered.

Forms of Monism

Monism is the way to solve the basic question in philosophy, which, given the understanding of the desired fundamental principle of the world, is divided into a continual and discrete form. Continual monism describes the world with the concepts of form and substrate, discrete - 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 first principle is not the main goal. Having reached the required primusubstrata, he gets the opportunity to move in the opposite direction, from parts to the whole. The definition of commonality allows us to find a link between the primary elements first, and then between their more complex connections. Movement to the whole from its primary elements can be carried out in two ways: diachronic and synchronic.

At the same time, monism is not only a point of view, but also a method of investigation. For example, the theory of mathematical numbers derives many of its objects from a natural number. In geometry, the point is taken as the basis. The monistic approach within the limits of one science tried to apply in the development of ideological monism. Thus, there were teachings that considered the world basis of mechanical motion (mechanicism), number (Pythagoras), physical processes (physicalism), and so on. If there were difficulties in the process, 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 power sharing. Here you can include the leaderism and the absolute union of the party and state apparatus. Cultivation of violence, terror and mass repression.

In economics, monism is manifested by the establishment of one state form of ownership, a planned economy or a monopoly control of the economy by the state. In the spiritual sphere, this is expressed in recognizing only the official ideology, which is designed to deny the past and the present in the name of the future. This ideology determines the right of the regime to exist, fights against dissent, fully controls the media.