Dualism

Dualism is any theory or system of thought that recognizes two and only two independent and mutually irreducible principles or substances, which are sometimes complementary and sometimes in conflict. Dualisms are distinguished from Monisms, which admit only one element or kind of element, and from Pluralisms, which admit more than two elements or kinds of elements. The polarities of a dualism are distinguished from the thesis and antithesis of a Dialectic, in that the former are stable and mutually exclusive and the latter are dynamic, always tending toward synthesis.

Dualisms are of two basic kinds, metaphysical and epistemological. Metaphysical dualisms admit two substances, such as world and God, or two principles, such as good and evil, as a means of explaining the nature of reality. Descartes argued a metaphysical dualism between mind - thinking substance - and body - extended substance. He held that all elements of reality are ultimately one or the other of these two heterogeneous substances. Epistemological dualisms use two substances or principles, such as consciousness and phenomena or subject and object, to analyze the knowing process. In general, an epistemological dualist distinguishes that which is immediately present to the perceiving mind from the retrospective determination of the real object known.

Plato's being and becoming, Aristotle's form and matter, Kant's noumena and phenomena, yin and yang in Chinese philosophy and the traditional issues of God and man, space and time, and nature and nurture are among other famous dualisms.

Donald Gotterbarn

Bibliography
A O Lovejoy, The Revolt Against Dualism (1930).

Dualism

A theory in interpretation which explains a given situation or domain in terms of two opposing factors or principles. In general, dualisms are twofold classifications which admit of no intermediate degrees. There are three major types: metaphysical, epistemological or epistemic, and ethical or ethicoreligious.

Metaphysical dualism asserts that the facts of the universe are best explained in terms of mutually irreducible elements. These are often considered to be mind and matter, or as by Descartes, thought and extension. Mind is usually conceived as conscious experience, matter as occupying space and being in motion. They are thus two qualitatively different orders of reality.

Epistemological dualism is an analysis of the knowing situation which holds that the idea or object of judgment is radically other than the real object. The "object" of knowledge is held to be known only through the mediation of "ideas." This type of thinking raises the important question of the manner in which knowledge can bridge the gap between the idea of an object and the object itself.

Ethical or ethicoreligious dualism asserts that there are two mutually hostile forces or beings in the world, the one being the source of all good, the other the source of all evil. The most clear cut type of ethicoreligious dualism is that of the ancient Iranian religion, usually associated with the name of Zoroaster, in which Ahura Mazda and Ahriman represent the projection into cosmology, respectively, of the forces of good and evil. The universe becomes the battleground for these opposing beings, identified respectively with light and darkness. More moderate forms of dualism pervade most religions, expressed, for example, by the distinction between sacred and profane, or by the analysis of reality in terms of yang and yin in Chinese thought.

Christian theology generally accepts a modified moral dualism, recognizing God as supremely good and Satan as a deteriorated creature bent everywhere upon the intrusion of evil. This, however, is not dualism in the sense of its usual definition, since Christian theology does not consider Satan to be ultimate or original, and sees him ultimately excluded from the universe.

H B Kuhn

Bibliography
D Runes, Dictionary of Philosophy.