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I never know what people mean by absolute truth, it sounds like they're referring to a truth above all truths, but there are many truths.

So I was wondering if there were a lot of philosophy that associates the absolute truth to the idea that everything is one thing and the truth of that one thing is the absolute truth.

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    It seems you are giving almost the definition of advaita vedanta
    – Rushi
    Feb 23, 2019 at 14:14
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    its far rarer to find substance dualists than substance monists. Science is based on substance monism.. however its only because experiment hasnt found no other type (non baryonic?) Of matter yet. Though the fabled dark matter remains mysterious. Even idealists are essentially substance monists on the whole. Descartes was famously a dualist.
    – Richard
    Feb 23, 2019 at 14:22
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    I made an edit which you may roll back or continue editing. Feb 23, 2019 at 16:00
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    It makes sense that monism is the one thing that never changes, therefore the absolute truth is the truth that never changes. But if the One permeates everything, then it may not be as simple as might be expected.
    – Bread
    Feb 24, 2019 at 4:19
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    Many philosophers have argued for monism. However, monism does not work in logic and Russell's paradox arises for most forms of it. The usual claim of those who claim Unity as an absolute is that there are not two things, (e.g advaita Vedanta) which is non-dualism as opposed to monism, but the two are often confused since this is an area little studied by anti-esoteric philosophers.
    – user20253
    Feb 24, 2019 at 12:00

2 Answers 2

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The OP observes the following:

I never know what people mean by absolute truth, it sounds like they're referring to a truth above all truths, but there are many truths.

Dominic J. O'Meara describes (pages 44-5) the neo-Platonism of Plotinus in such a way that it may be an example of what the OP describes as associating "the absolute truth to the idea that everything is one thing and the truth of that one thing is the absolute truth".

For Plotinus, however, divine intellect could not be absolutely simple; in certain respects, despite its high degree of unity, it is composite. Applying the Principle of Prior Simplicity, Plotinus thus came to the conclusion that we must postulate, over and beyond divine intellect, an ultimate cause which would be absolute simple, the 'One'.

The many truths or Platonic Forms of the divine intellect are not "simple" enough for Plotinus. Going beyond them might be viewed as an "absolute truth", or "monism" or as the "One" referred to by Plotinus.


O'Meara, D. J. (1995). Plotinus: an introduction to the Enneads. Oxford University Press on Demand.

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  • I like this answer but would add a footnote to say that Plotinus is not a monist but a non-dualist. But you're right, his view 'might be viewed as'.monism and often is.
    – user20253
    Feb 25, 2019 at 12:09
  • @PeterJ I agree with you about monism and Plotinus. Feb 25, 2019 at 14:27
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I never know what people mean by absolute truth, it sounds like they're referring to a truth above all truths, but there are many truths.

What about the scenes you 'see' while dreaming? If I could ask you without waking you, whether all the scenes are true/truth? You would certainly say, "Yes". Sometimes the person who sleeps with you would have experienced the gravity of the truths in the dream (Just for an example...not about you). But if I asked you about the scenes in the dream, what would be your response? You would smile. There is no relation between what you see now and what you saw in the dream. Similarly, because of misconceptions we don't know the absolute truth. But there were/are people who realized this Truth. And even the sinner has the right to realize this Truth at this moment (and it must be so).

What about the many truths you experienced in your dream? Is the absolute truth similar to other truths? "No". But you could say one thing--"The first person, second person and the third person or in other words, everything in the dream were none other than you. When you take the word 'truths' in the plural form even all the truths are nothing but the things in a dream, isn't it? (or you realized all the truths were only the 'truths in a dream') This is happening in advaita. (This is not about Monism. I believe this might be the idea you are seeking by the term 'Monism'.)

So I was wondering if there were a lot of philosophy that associates the absolute truth to the idea that everything is one thing and the truth of that one thing is the absolute truth.

The idea--"everything is one thing" would take you to monism because when you say 'one thing' you do not consider you as the part of that one thing. The term 'advaita' solves even this trifle-but-significant problem.

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