Beyond the "One": Why Pantheism Isn't Pure Monism
 |
| Spinoza’s Monism vs. Stoic Pantheism |
By Adel Sherif
I’ve noticed that in many Stoic groups, people often mix up the ideas of Spinoza and the Stoics. On the surface, both traditions emphasize reason, freedom of thought, and living in harmony with nature. Yet the differences are crucial.
The Stoics are pantheists: they see the cosmos as infused with divine reason (Logos), a living fire that actively shapes passive matter. This framework allows room for providence, moral order, and even the possibility of miracles, since the Logos can intervene through the rational structure of the universe.
Spinoza, by contrast, is a radical monist. For him, God is not a personal agent but identical with Nature itself (Deus sive Natura). There is only one infinite substance, and everything follows from itcessity. In this sense, Spinoza’s system is often read as atheistic: there is no divine will, no miracles, no active Logos directing passive matter. What exists is simply the unfolding of necessity.
So while both Stoicism and Spinozism inspire rational freedom and a sense of unity with the cosmos, they diverge sharply: Stoic Pantheism rests on a subtle dualism of active and passive principles, while Spinoza’s Monism collapses all distinctions into one seamless substance.
At first glance, Monism and Pantheism seem identical. Both claim that “All is One.” Yet if we look closer at the mechanics of the universe, a sharp divide emerges. Monism is the denial of all dualism, while Pantheism often functions as a subtle dualism hidden beneath the surface.
The Common Misconception
Most people use the terms Monism and Pantheism interchangeably. They assume that if God is the Universe, the system must be a pure Monism. But the history of philosophy shows us otherwise: claiming “everything is God” often requires splitting the “everything” into two distinct parts to make the logic work.
This is where the confusion lies:
- Monism insists on absolute unity, no divisions, no opposites.
- Pantheism, while poetic and holistic, often smuggles in a dualism—an active principle versus a passive one, spirit versus matter, order versus chaos.
-Spinoza: The Absolute Monist
Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) represents the peak of Substance Monism. For Spinoza, there is no separation between creator and created.
- The “One”: He collapsed everything into a single, infinite Substance (Deus sive Natura — “God or Nature”).
- No Dualism: Mind and Matter are not two different “things” interacting. They are simply two different ways of perceiving the same underlying reality.
- Logical Necessity: In Spinoza’s system, everything unfolds with mathematical precision. Freedom is redefined as understanding necessity, not escaping it.
Spinoza’s radical unity left no room for an “active” God shaping a “passive” world. The world simply is, and its laws are the laws of God.
The Stoics: The Subtle Dualists
By contrast, the Stoics (3rd century BCE onward) are often labeled Pantheists because they believed the Divine permeates the material world. Yet their physics relies on a dualistic foundation.
- Active Logos: A rational, divine “Fire” or Logos acts upon the world, shaping and directing it.
- Passive Matter: A formless, inert substance (Hyle) exists, waiting to be organized.
- Subtle Dualism: Even though the Stoics describe the universe as one living organism, they require this Active vs. Passive split to explain change, morality, and cosmic order.
Without the Active Logos directing the Passive Matter, their universe would collapse into chaos. Thus, their “One” is not seamless—it is structured by tension between two principles.
Other Philosophical Echoes
This distinction between Monism and Pantheism echoes across traditions:
- Vedanta (Advaita): Pure Monism, where Atman and Brahman are one, no separation.
- Samkhya Philosophy: Dualism of Purusha (consciousness) and Prakriti (matter).
- Neoplatonism: The “One” emanates into lower levels of reality, introducing subtle distinctions between unity and multiplicity.
Pantheism often leans toward these dualistic frameworks, while Monism resists them entirely.
Why It Matters
Understanding this distinction changes how we view reality:
- Pure Monist (Spinoza): Sees a world of logical necessity, where everything is one substance and dualism is illusion.
- Subtle Dualist (Stoics): Sees a world where a Higher Reason (Logos) constantly works through material form, shaping destiny and morality.
This difference affects how we interpret freedom, ethics, and even spirituality:
- In Monism, freedom is understanding necessity.
- In Pantheism, freedom is aligning with the Logos or divine order.
The Takeaway
Next time someone says Pantheism and Monism are the same, ask them:
“Does your ‘One’ have an Active and a Passive side?”
If it does, you’ve uncovered the subtle dualism.
Spinoza: Pure Monism in His Own Words
From Ethics Part I:
- “By substance, I mean that which is in itself, and is conceived through itself.”- “Except God, no substance can be or be conceived.” (Ethics I, Proposition 14)
- “…that God is unique, that is, that in Nature there is only one substance, and that it is absolutely infinite.”
These lines show Spinoza’s radical collapse of all distinctions into one infinite reality. There is no creator versus creation, no mind versus matter — only one substance, Deus sive Natura (“God or Nature”), viewed under different attributes.
The Stoics: Pantheism with Dual Principles
Diogenes Laertius, reporting Stoic doctrine, writes:
- “They think that there are two general principles in the universe, the active and the passive. The passive is matter, an existence without any distinctive quality. The active is the reason which exists in the passive, that is to say, God. For he, being eternal, and existing throughout all matter, makes everything.”
Other Stoic sources describe the Logos as a divine fire:
- “An artistic fire, the active principle, creates as it expands, pervading inert matter, the passive principle, and defining existence as an evolving, dynamic process.”
Here the Stoics insist the cosmos is one living organism, but it is structured by tension: Logos (active divine reason) shapes Hyle (passive matter). Without this duality, their system cannot explain change, order, or morality.
Spinoza’s words leave no room for dualism — everything is one infinite substance. The Stoics, by contrast, explicitly describe two principles, even while calling the universe divine. That’s why Pantheism, despite its “all is God” claim, often hides a subtle dualism beneath its surface.
