Monism

Philosophy • Critical Thinking • Science • History • …

Phil • Cr. Think • Science • Hist • …

TST PRACTICE

By Philosopher Michael Alan Prestwood

Philosophy | Critical Thinking | Science | History

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Monism

God is nature, nature is everything.

Western monism emerged with Spinoza in the 1600s.

30 Philosophers, Chapter 25, Spinoza, Touchstone 65: Monism.

Monism says reality is ultimately composed of a single substance. For Spinoza, that substance was the one infinite reality he called God or Nature: everything that exists is part of it. TST takes a more limited position. We know of one shared substance, the Material World science investigates, but that does not prove other substances or realms cannot exist. Monism asks a deeper metaphysical question: is ultimate reality made of one substance, two, or many?

The TST Split itself is epistemic, not a declaration that only the Material World can exist. The Material World is the one shared reality available for empirical investigation. You are free to believe in additional realms such as Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, or Valhalla, and you are free to explore the number of substances. TST simply asks us to recognize that such ideas are not established in the same way as the Material World we all share. In this sense, TST is monistic about the reality we can establish, but makes no metaphysical claim beyond that.

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Monism.

Spinoza’s monism says there is only one substance: God or Nature. Everything that exists is part of this single, infinite reality.

Subject: Monism.

Take control of how you respond to beliefs about ultimate reality. You can have your own views while giving others room for theirs. No one knows for sure what, if anything, awaits us after death. Focus on the life you can control, respect honest differences, and leave room for what remains unknown.

Flashcard.

What is the term for something that exists in its own right rather than merely as a property of something else?.

Answer. Substance .

That Religion Story,

was first published on TST 2 years ago.

All story is part of the broader TST project.

These short pieces do the quiet work of verification, helping ideas stay grounded in reliable scholarship rather than repetition, assumption, or memory alone.

The end!