Can we prove Monism?

Question

This whole theory of Monism. Is there any way to scientifically prove it?

Answer 1

By Monism I think you just mean that all reality is based on the physical which indeed is exactly what the best of our modern science tells us. Contrast this with a dualist who believes in souls and invisible non-detectable energies in the universe.

You can't prove Monism because proving it in a sense would mean DISproving dualism - and you can't disprove a negative. Its one of the fudamental rules of logic. You can't prove God doesn't exist and you can't prove I don't have a dragon in my garage. The main reason Monism is the sensible view is that its based on reality. Some people actually believe our emotions are there because of our souls - but then drugs can effect our moods - does that mean a mere chemical could effect our immortal soul? Besides that you have to consider that your brain is running software which is basically rooted in the physical - every neuron connecting to another, every electrical impulse, every chemical message relayed by synapse - its all physical. This being the case anyone with a good degree of scientific literacy will watch a movie like Vice Versa and see how silly the basic concept is - they've swapped souls? To think like each other they'd have to swap brains. The idea is routed in our culture and its hard to get rid of it though I recommend you challenge it whenever possible! Next time someone says 'well so would you if you were them' you can say 'but then i wouldnt be me, would i?'

You are your consciousness, in your brain, part of your body. This is all the identity you'd ever need. If your personality could be downloaded on to a computer would you consider that to be you? I doubt it. The more you think about the idea of dualism the more absurd it is.

Answer 2

I don't know what religion/culture you belong to, but the most famous of all philosophies in Orthodox Hinduism--Advaita Vedanta--is completely monistic. According to it, the Supreme Being (the transcendental form of God) is the only reality in the world. Adi Shankaracharya, the great Hindu philosopher of India, has given several arguments in its favor. The only reality is Brahman, the Supreme Cosmic Spirit, and the rest of the distinct materials world/persons, etc are merely illusion, caused by the principle of Maya. You might like to read more about it at

Answer 3

Well, if you smoke marijuana, you can relate to it. But scientifically, even proven, has really no worth or point at this point of evolution.

Answer 4

Shouldn't this question be on the Alternative"science page?

Answer 5

I believe the correct answer is no.