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Definition of "monism" [mon•ism]

  • Philosophy The view in metaphysics that reality is a unified whole and that all existing things can be ascribed to or described by a single concept or system. (noun)
  • Philosophy The doctrine that mind and matter are formed from, or reducible to, the same ultimate substance or principle of being. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "monism" in a sentence
  • "So neutral monism is the way I can say essentially nothing about what I think is going on, but at least not multiply my ignorant hypotheses"
  • "Berlin set out his basic account of what he would later label monism in his biography of Marx"
  • "In a minor sense the word monism is sometimes used in psychology to designate the doctrine that there is no real distinction between the soul and its faculties."