monism

Noun

monism (countable and uncountable, plural monisms)

1. The doctrine of the oneness and unity of reality, despite the appearance of diversity in the world.
   • Many socialists were tending towards idealistic monism, regarding the world as an integrated progress of man and nature towards final harmony.1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in...

   Synonyms:

   one-thingism

2. (historical) The doctrine that there is a single source of political authority, especially that the church is subordinate to the state or vice versa.
   • The same conflict between the monism of temporal theorists and the dualism of ecclesiastical thinkers—the same opposition of organic to symbiotic union—occurred in the ninth century.1964, Karl F. Morrison, Two Kingdoms: Ecclesiology in Carolingian Political Thought, Princeton University Press, page 4
3. (international law) The legal doctrine that international law forms part of domestic law automatically after ratification or accession.