Absolutism may refer to:
Government
*
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism (European history), Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute pow ...
, in which a monarch rules free of laws or legally organized opposition
*
Absolutism (European history)
''Absolutism'' or the ''Age of Absolutism'' ( – ) is a historiographical term used to describe a form of monarchical power that is unrestrained by all other institutions, such as churches, legislatures, or social elites. Absolutism is typ ...
, period c. 1610 – c. 1789 in Europe
**
Enlightened absolutism, influenced by the Enlightenment (18th- and early 19th-century Europe)
*
Autocracy, a political theory which argues that one person should hold all power
**
Tsarist autocracy
Tsarist autocracy (russian: царское самодержавие, transcr. ''tsarskoye samoderzhaviye''), also called Tsarism, was a form of autocracy (later absolute monarchy) specific to the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states th ...
, is a form of autocracy (later absolute monarchy) specific to Russia
Philosophy
General philosophy
*
Absolutism, the view that facts are absolute rather than merely relative (sometimes called "universality")
Ethics
*
Moral absolutism
Moral absolutism is an ethical view that some (potentially all) actions are intrinsically right or wrong. Stealing, for instance, might be considered to be always immoral, even if done for the well-being of others (e.g., stealing food to feed a ...
, the belief in absolute standards against which moral questions can be judged, regardless of context
*
Graded absolutism
Graded absolutism is a theory of moral absolutism (in Christian ethics) which resolves the objection to absolutism (i.e., in moral conflicts, we are obligated to opposites). Moral absolutism is the ethical view that certain actions are absolu ...
, the view that a moral absolute, such as "Do not kill", can be greater or lesser than another moral absolute, such as "Do not lie"
Hegelian philosophy
*
Absolute (philosophy), the Hegelian concept of an objective and unconditioned reality, said to underlie perceived objects
*
Absolute idealism, an ontologically monistic philosophy attributed to G. W. F. Hegel
Physics
*
Absolute theory, in physics
**
Absolute space Absolute may refer to:
Companies
* Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher
* Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK
* Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk manage ...
, a theory that space exists absolutely; contrast with relationalism
Psychology
*
Splitting (psychology)
Splitting (also called black-and-white thinking or all-or-nothing thinking) is the failure in a person's thinking to bring together the dichotomy of both perceived positive and negative qualities of something into a cohesive, realistic whole. It is ...
, also called black-and-white thinking or all-or-nothing thinking
{{disambig