monadism

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the metaphysical doctrine that monads are the ultimate units of reality, especially the theory developed by Leibniz

   Leibniz's monadism describes the universe as a hierarchy of simple substances coordinated by pre-established harmony.

Probably borrowed from French monadisme, formed from monade ("monad") + -isme. Monad ultimately comes through Late Latin monas from Greek monas (genitive monados), "a unit," related to monos ("alone"). The term is especially associated with Leibniz's metaphysics.

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