For monism, all phenomena and beings are made up of a primary substance.
The first thing we are going to do, before delving into the meaning of the term monism , is to know its etymological origin. In this case, we can state that it derives from Greek, since it is the result of the sum of two lexical components of said language:
-The word “monos”, which can be translated as “unique” or “alone”.
-The suffix “-ism”, which is used to indicate “doctrine” or “philosophy”.
What is monism
Monism is called a philosophical position , shared by different systems and doctrines, which affirms that all phenomena and beings in the universe are made up of a primary substance . This primary reason was known in Ancient Greece as arché or arjé .
Monistic conceptions coincide in postulating a fundamental idea or cause from which all the elements of reality derive. Today's material monism , for example, considers that the first matter was that which was formed with the big bang .
Pantheistic monism , meanwhile, postulates God as an elemental principle, while spiritual monism does the same with the spirit. There is also a neutral monism that ensures that the origin of the universe is not mental but not physical, but is found in a neutral or basic matter that exceeds the qualification in said parameters.
There are different types of monisms.
Philosophers who analyzed this position
Tales of Miletus, Baruch Espinoza, David Hume, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel y Karl Marx son algunos de los filósofos que recurrieron al monismo en sus análisis y reflexiones. Desde la antigüedad hasta hoy, numerosos pensadores han estudiado la nature de las cosas y las relaciones entre la mente y lo físico.
In addition to Thales of Miletus, we have to indicate that the so-called pre-Socratic philosophers, before Socrates, were monists and each one had a very specific conception of so-called monism. We are referring to figures such as the following:
-Heraclitus of Ephesus (546 – 480 BC), came to explain that the basic and fundamental element that existed was fire. Hence it was clear to him that everything that existed was part of a combustion cycle.
-Pythagoras of Samos (571 – 497 BC) believed, for his part, that the aforementioned essential and essential element were numbers. For this reason he was convinced that everything could be explained using mathematical theorems and formulas.
-Parmenides of Elea, who was born around 515 BC in Elea, had the idea that everything was what it was and if something was not, it was because it did not exist.
-Anaximenes of Miletus (550 – 480 BC) was a pre-Socratic philosopher who, for his part, considered that the basic and fundamental element was none other than air.
These philosophers formed a group that also included others such as Anaximander or even Leucippus of Miletus.
Monism and the philosophy of the spirit
Monism can be framed in the so-called philosophy of the spirit or philosophy of mind , which is focused on thoughts, emotions, fantasies, perceptions, dreams and sensations.
This branch of philosophy examines different questions of epistemology and ontology to try to establish what is mental and what is not.