Victoria Philosophy Salon

Topic:
Monism Vs. Pluralism

Chairperson:
Mary Kennedy

Moderator:
Spencer Sinclare

Meetup Date:
Wednesday, May 28th. 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., with a 15 minute break at 8:00 p.m.

Meetup Location:
Upstairs at The Bent Mast, 512 Simcoe St. Victoria, BC, V8V 1L8

Members:
If you plan to attend, please take a moment and RSVP. If your plans
change and you cannot attend, to the right of your name there are three dots. Please click on them and move yourself to "Not Going."
Thank you :)

Quotes:
"Division and differentiation are the processes by which things are created. Since things are emerging and dissolving all the time, you cannot specify the point when this division will stop." ~ Liezi, Lieh-tzu

"At one moment, his eyes sparkled in the light and in the next they were enshrouded in shadow. What connected those bands of light and dark? Could they indeed have been distinct entities?" ~ Ashim Shanker

Synopsis:
In philosophical terms, monism posits that reality is fundamentally one, while pluralism asserts that reality is composed of multiple fundamental elements or principles. Monism seeks unity and simplification, while pluralism embraces complexity and diversity.

Elaboration

Monism
Monism proposes that everything in reality can be reduced to a single underlying substance or principle. For example, a physical monist might believe that everything is ultimately made of matter and energy. Other forms of monism include spiritual monism, which posits that reality is ultimately spiritual in nature, or idealism, which suggests that all reality is mental or conceptual.

Pluralism
Pluralism, in contrast, argues that reality is composed of several fundamental, irreducible entities or principles. A pluralist might argue that there are multiple fundamental values, multiple kinds of being, or multiple fundamental aspects of reality that cannot be reduced to a single sources.

Examples
In metaphysics, monism might be exemplified by the claim that all reality is ultimately made of a single substance, like water or air, as proposed by early Greek philosophers. Pluralism, on the other hand, might be exemplified by the idea that reality is composed of multiple, distinct entities, like the different elements of the universe, as posited by later Greek philosophers.

Distinction
Pluralism is not simply "dualism and more." Dualism posits two fundamentally different substances, while pluralism acknowledges multiple substances, without necessarily limiting the number to two, according to a philosophical analysis on dualism and pluralism.

In essence, monism emphasizes the unity and simplicity of reality, while pluralism embraces its diversity and complexity.