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MONISM

Any system of philosophy that substitutes a unity of substance for a unity of order in the universe. It denies all plurality of beings, considering only the One to be real and the manifold an illusion. Various philosophers have differently conceived this one reality as spirit or matter, or as spirit emanating matter, or as matter evolving into spirit. Monism is pantheism looked at from the viewpoint of being. (Etym. Greek monos, alone, single.)

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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