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= Dualism =
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Introduction
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Dualism is a family of views that propose a fundamental division into
two separate principles or kinds. It typically emphasizes a sharp
distinction between independent or antagonistic sides, but in a
broader sense, it also includes theories in which the two sides are
correlated or complementary. Dualism contrasts with monism, which
rejects any fundamental division, and with forms of pluralism that
posit more than two basic principles.
Dualist views span many domains and disciplines. Mind-body dualism
holds that mind and body are fundamentally different. It includes
substance dualism, which interprets mind and body as distinct
substances able to exist independently, and property dualism, which
characterizes them as separate kinds of properties of the same
substance. Ethical dualism targets the contrast between good and evil,
regarding them as antagonistic forces that govern human conduct and
the cosmic order. Platonic dualism divides reality into the
intelligible realm of timeless Forms and the sensory realm of mutable
matter, with similarities to the distinction between abstract and
concrete objects in the contemporary discourse. Epistemological
dualism holds that the object of perception is different from the real
object, positing an essential gap between experience and reality.
Dualist views also include the Chinese doctrine of yin and yang,
conceiving reality as an interplay of two correlated forces,
theological dualisms that distinguish God from the world, and the
nature-culture divide contrasting the innate state of nature with
human practices and institutions. Other dualisms are found in value
theory, legal theory, physics, and indigenous belief systems. Critics
argue that dualism ignores continuities, oversimplifies reality,
creates pseudoproblems, or introduces evaluative biases.
Dualist thought has its roots in antiquity as a key theme of various
religious traditions, such as Zoroastrianism, Jainism, the 'yinyang'
school, Samkhya, Gnosticism, and Manichaeism. Abrahamic religions were
generally suspicious of dualism, while competing schools of thought
along the monism-dualism spectrum emerged in medieval India. Mind-body
substance dualism became a central topic in early modern Western
philosophy following the works of René Descartes. It was largely
replaced by materialist monism in the course of the 20th century as
the dominant stance toward the mind-body problem.
Definition and related terms
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Dualism is a family of views that analyze a domain or phenomenon by
proposing a fundamental division into two principles or aspects.
Dualist theories differ in the type of division and principles they
posit. For example, mind-body dualism argues for a basic contrast
between mind and body as distinct substances or properties to explain
the fundamental makeup of the world and human experience. Dualists
maintain that the two principles are independent and cannot be reduced
to one another. They typically emphasize contrast and separation, and
some characterize the relationship between the two sides as an
antagonistic conflict between opposing forces, such as the clash
between good and evil in ethical dualism. In a broad sense, dualism
also includes views where the two sides are correlated or
complementary rather than opposed.
Dualist theories also vary in their scope of analysis and the domain
they seek to explain, with some focusing on reality at large while
others target specific areas. For instance, the scope of dualism in
international law is limited to legal theory about the relation
between international and domestic law. Dualism is a widely used
theoretical approach found in many fields, including philosophy of
mind, metaphysics, theology, mythology, science, ethics, and political
theory. Accordingly, the contrast between dualist and non-dualist
views affects diverse topics, shaping how to understand the structure
of reality, the nature of knowledge, the value of entities, and right
action.
Dualism contrasts with monism, which rejects any fundamental division.
Monists argue that the domain in question is unified, meaning that all
apparent distinctions ultimately arise from a single principle. For
example, materialist monism rejects the mind-body division, arguing
that mind is not an independent principle since everything is
fundamentally matter. Because dualism posits two basic principles, it
is a form of pluralism. It contrasts with other pluralistic theories
that posit more than two basic principles.{{efn|In Indian philosophy,
the term 'nondualism' is sometimes used as a synonym of monism.}} For
instance, the metaphysical pluralism of the pre-Socratic philosopher
Empedocles holds that everything is composed of four root elements:
fire, earth, air, and water. Since monism, dualism, and other forms of
pluralism analyze a domain in terms of one or more principles, they
differ from nihilist or eliminativist theories, which deny the reality
of the analyzed phenomena.
Dualism is closely related to duality, dichotomy, and binary
opposition. Although these terms overlap and are sometimes used
interchangeably, they are not identical and carry distinct nuances.
Duality is the quality of being twofold or having two distinct parts.
Dualities are often associated with correlated parts, whereas dualisms
tend to emphasize the opposition between the two sides. A dichotomy is
a division or splitting of something into two contrasting or mutually
exclusive parts. Such divisions may or may not have a deeper
philosophical significance and need not reflect reality, as in a false
dichotomy. A binary opposition is a relation between two terms with
opposite meanings. The concept plays a central role in structuralist
and post-structuralist theories as the idea that cultural and
linguistic systems generate and stabilize meaning through oppositional
pairs.
The term 'dualism' comes from the Latin word , meaning . It entered
the English language as the term 'dual' in the 16th century. In the
late 18th century, the abstract noun 'dualism' was formed with the
suffix '-ism' to denote a theory. The first known use was in 1794 by
the satirist and scholar Thomas James Mathias.
Mind–body dualism
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Mind-body dualism is the view that mind and body are fundamentally
different. It holds that mental phenomena, such as thoughts, emotions,
volitions, and consciousness, exist as nonphysical entities in
addition to physical entities, such as the brain. A key motivation for
this distinction is that physical and mental phenomena seem to have
different characteristics. Physical objects encountered in everyday
life have size, shape, color, weight, and spatial location. They
appear objective, can be perceived through the senses, and can be
measured using scientific instruments. Mental phenomena, by contrast,
appear private and subjective without a clearly identifiable size,
color, or spatial location. The mind-body problem is the challenge of
explaining the relation between the two, and dualism is one approach
to addressing it. Dualists debate the exact nature of body, mind, and
their relation, giving rise to a variety of dualist theories.
Variations
============
Substance dualism asserts that body and mind are distinct substances.
In metaphysics, a substance is a fundamental entity with independent
existence. Accordingly, substance dualists typically assert that body
and mind can each exist on their own, at least in principle. This view
leaves open the possibility that the mind or soul may persist after
bodily death, potentially in an afterlife. An influential substance
dualism was formulated by René Descartes, who argued that bodies are
extended things, while minds are thinking things.
Substance dualism contrasts with property dualism, which asserts that
there are only physical substances with both physical and mental
properties. In metaphysics, properties are features of entities,
describing their characteristics or what those entities are like.
Accordingly, the mind is characterized as an aspect of a substance but
not as something that can exist on its own. The dualistic outlook of
this view rests on the idea that mental properties cannot be reduced
to physical descriptions, such as brain states, meaning that a
scientific account of the world based only on physical attributes
would be incomplete.
Various dualist theories in Indian philosophy resemble Western
mind-body dualism but differ in some key aspects. In Samkhya
philosophy, the foundational division is between 'purusha' and
'prakriti'. A 'purusha' is an individual self, understood as a pure,
contentless consciousnessan inactive and unchanging observer.
'Prakriti' is materiality, encompassing not only ordinary material
objects but also contents of consciousness, including cognition and
emotion. Similar dualisms with some variations are also found in the
schools of Yoga, Vaisheshika, and Nyaya.
Problem of interaction
========================
A central topic in mind-body dualism is the problem of interaction:
explaining whether or in which way mind and body causally influence
each other. According to interactionism, this influence goes both
ways, with the senses transmitting causal influences from body to mind
and volitions translating mental plans into actions. For instance, a
bodily injury can produce an experience of mental pain, and a mental
fear can cause the body to flee. A difficulty for this view is the
principle of conservation of energy, according to which the total
energy of a closed physical system can neither increase nor decrease,
making it unclear how the mind can influence without altering the
energy balance. Another objection is based on the problem of
overdetermination, according to which physical causes already explain
all physical effects and do not require additional mental causes.
Epiphenomenalism, a different approach, holds that the interaction is
only one-way: bodily phenomena cause mental phenomena, but mental
phenomena have no effects. Accordingly, the mind is characterized as
an epiphenomenon: a byproduct of brain processes without causal
influence of its own. One criticism of this view focuses on the
counterintuitive implication that mental states like fear do not
influence behavior. The evolutionary challenge, another objection,
questions how the mind could have developed at all if it is irrelevant
to survival or reproduction.
Parallelism proposes that no interaction between mind and body takes
place. It maintains that mental cause-effect chains and physical
cause-effect chains run in parallel without influencing each other. A
central problem for this view is explaining how or why the two realms
are synchronized.
Arguments and alternative views
=================================
Philosophers debate many arguments for and against mind-body dualism.
One supporting argument asserts that knowledge of all physical facts
is not a complete knowledge of the world since it excludes
first-person knowledge of experiential qualities. Its conclusion is
that there must be non-physical facts to explain the knowledge gap.
Another approach argues that one can imagine a mind without a body. It
infers that the two concepts cannot be identical because the ability
to conceive one without the other indicates a real distinction.
Arguments against dualism often target the problem of interaction and
the shortcomings of each proposed solution. Other objections center on
the peculiar nature of the mind compared to physical things, such as
subjectivity and privacy.
Monist approaches avoid the objections to dualism by rejecting the
idea that mind and body are fundamentally distinct. Materialist monism
argues that everything is ultimately physical, meaning that minds
either do not exist or exist only as emergent features of physical
systems. Idealist monism sees the mind as the sole fundamental
principle, for example, by explaining matter as a construction of
mental activity. According to neutral monism, reality is composed of a
single kind that is neither material nor mental. Neutral monists
typically accept that there are material and mental entities but
understand them as derivative phenomena with a common root in a
neutral basis.
Religious dualisms
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Several dualisms in religious thought seek to explain the nature of
the world and its relation to the divine. Scholars distinguish various
types, including ethical, moral, cosmic, cosmological, and theological
dualisms. However, the definitions of these types vary across authors
and may overlap.
Ethical
=========
Ethical or moral dualism is the view that reality is governed by two
antagonistic principles: good and evil. It holds that the world
develops in the form of a struggle as these two forces battle for
influence. The two forces are either conceived as impersonal
principles or personified as rival deities embodying moral opposites.
The opposing forces are sometimes assigned to different domains, such
as heaven and hell. Some religions regard the conflict as eternal and
unresolvable, while others introduce an eschatological or
soteriological dimension, predicting a final triumph of good over
evil.{{efn|The terms 'cosmic' and 'cosmological dualism' are often
used in a similar sense, but their exact definition varies from author
to author. According to one proposal, cosmic dualism focuses primarily
on the distinction between the two sides while cosmological dualism
uses this distinction to explain how the world was created.}}
Ethical dualism plays a central role in Zoroastrianism, an ancient
Iranian religion that frames existence as the conflict between the
deities Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. Ahura Mazda is the benevolent
and wise spirit responsible for creation, while Angra Mainyu is his
destructive and deceitful adversary. Zoroastrianism calls on humans to
support truth and order in the conflict against falsehood and chaos,
predicting the eventual victory of Ahura Mazda. Manichaeism, another
dualist religion, characterizes the fundamental conflict as a struggle
between light and darkness, two eternal and equally fundamental
principles. Light is the principle of goodness, associated with spirit
and wisdom. Darkness is the principle of evil and belongs to matter
and ignorance. The battle also takes place within each individual: the
light of the human soul seeks to escape darkness as it is trapped in a
material body.
Ethical dualism contrasts with monist theories that see the good as
the singular foundational principle. According to this view, evil is
not an independent force but merely a lack or an absence of goodness.
This outlook is found in Christian thought. For example, Augustine of
Hippo argued that there is only a single, benevolent, and all-powerful
God. According to him, evil is a kind of privation that arises when
free human beings make bad decisions and thereby fail to participate
fully in the good.{{efn|Another discussion of the problem of the
existence of evil is found in Pierre Bayle's 'Historical and Critical
Dictionary', in which Bayle contrasted monotheist with dualist
perspectives. Bayle quoted extensively from Thomas Hyde's earlier
discussion of dualism in ancient Persian religions, helping to
popularize the term.}} Some traditions of thought stand between monism
and dualism: they accept a single foundational principle while
positing an opposing force as a secondary, derivative principle whose
source lies in its counterpart. For example, several gnostic systems
distinguish between the supreme deity and a demiurge who functions as
an inferior, misguided creator introducing malevolence or ignorance.
Others
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Not all religious dualisms involve principles or forces actively in
conflict with each other. Some posit correlated principles that govern
the cosmic order by balancing or complementing each other without a
hostile struggle. A central dualism in ancient Chinese thought focuses
on the contrast between yin and yang. They are understood as
correlated forces that describe how things arise, interact, and stay
in balance. Yin is the female principle associated with earth,
darkness, and passivity. Yang is the male principle associated with
heaven, brightness, and activity. Yin and yang are understood as dual
aspects of all things. As interdependent forces, neither is ranked
above the other. Instead, the ideal is to cultivate a dynamic harmony
between them. Neo-Confucian thought explores another dualism involving
two inseparable principles. It distinguishes between 'li'the general
pattern or rational order of the cosmosand 'qi'the vital force that
actualizes this pattern and animates things.
The contrast between Brahman and maya is a frequently discussed
dualism in Indian thought. Brahman is the ultimate reality, a state of
perfect unity and pure existence without divisive qualities. Maya
describes the world of illusory appearances, characterized by constant
change, a multiplicity of entities, and a deceptive sense of
separation from the divine unity. This duality plays a central role in
the school of Advaita Vedanta, which asserts that the contrast is no
true ontological dualism since maya is an illusion, meaning that
ultimate reality is fundamentally unified. Advaita Vedanta holds that
the self is trapped in maya and mistakes the world of illusions for
ultimate reality. It teaches overcoming this ignorance to achieve
liberation.
A form of theological dualism, often addressed in monotheistic
religions, concerns the relation between God and the world. It asserts
that the two are radically different: God creates and governs the
world but does not belong to it. For example, classical theism holds
that God is the transcendent, eternal creator and sustainer of the
world, existing before and independently of its creation. Classical
theists typically emphasize the qualitative distinction between God's
perfect attributes, such as omnipotence, omniscience, and
omnibenevolence, in contrast to the imperfections found in the world.
This God-world dualism contrasts with monist views that reject a
strict distinction. According to pantheism, God and the world are
identical, meaning that God is fully immanent in the creation.
Panentheism, a related view, maintains that the world is part of God,
making God both immanent and transcendent.
Platonic dualism
======================================================================
Platonic dualism holds that reality is divided into two distinct
realms: the intelligible realm of Forms and the sensory realm of
matter.{{efn|The term 'Platonic dualism' is also used in the context
of mind-body dualism for the view that human souls are immaterial.}}
Platonic Forms are perfect and immutable ideas, such as the Forms of
beauty, justice, and goodness. They constitute the essence of physical
things but exist independently of them. Platonic Forms contrast with
matter, which is accessible to sensory perception as a changeable
substance. Material things imitate the Forms to varying degrees but
fail to fully embody them, for example, as degrees of justice without
reaching perfect justice. Because of this inadequacy, Plato argued
that ideal Forms cannot be learned from experience and, as the objects
of true knowledge, have a higher degree of existence.
A related contrast in contemporary philosophy is between concrete and
abstract objects. Concrete objects exist in spacetime and have causes
and effects, such as a rock, a river, and a cat. Abstract objects have
no spatiotemporal location and do not enter into causal relations,
such as the number 4, the concept of a triangle, and the proposition
that snow is white.
In contrast to Plato's view, abstract objects are typically not
treated as a higher form of being in the contemporary discourse. On
the contrary, challenges are more commonly directed at the reality and
ontological status of abstract objects, while the existence of
concrete objects is widely accepted. Critics of abstract objects
frequently focus on their peculiar nature, questioning their status as
causally inert entities and the difficulty of explaining how knowledge
of such entities is possible. Supporters of abstract objects, termed
'Platonists', often cite indispensability arguments, according to
which abstract objects exist because they play key roles in
mathematical and scientific theories, making them indispensable to a
rigorous scientific explanation of the world.
Epistemological dualism
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Epistemological dualism, also known as 'indirect realism' or
'representationalism', posits a fundamental division between
experience and reality. It holds that perception is not in direct
contact with the world, asserting that the subjectively experienced
object is distinct from the real object. Epistemological dualists
typically maintain that external objects cause ideas or impressions in
the mind, which represent those objects but are not identical to them.
For example, sense-datum theorists argue that the immediate objects of
perception are not material objects but sense datasensory qualities
such as colors, shapes, and sounds. According to epistemological
dualism, people have direct knowledge of mental contents but only
indirect knowledge of the entities that cause them or are represented
by them. This view contrasts with epistemological monism or direct
realism, which asserts that the experienced object is identical to the
real object, making direct knowledge possible.
A closely related form of epistemological dualism is found in the work
of Immanuel Kant, who distinguished between phenomena and noumena.
Phenomena are appearances of things, while noumena are things as they
are in themselves. Kant argued that the mind actively constructs the
experience of the world by organizing it according to principles, such
as space, time, causality, and the categories of understanding, which
determine the structure of all possible experiences. This view led him
to posit a gap between phenomena and noumena, arguing that knowledge
of the world is limited to the realm of appearances and cannot
penetrate the noumenal realm.
An argument in favor of epistemological dualism cites its ability to
explain the similarities between veridical perceptions and
non-veridical experiences, such as illusions and hallucinations.
According to epistemological dualism, these experiences have the same
basic structure involving a contrast between internal contents and
external objects, with the difference lying in the accuracy of the
relation between content and object. A central objection holds that
epistemological dualism leads to skepticism, claiming that the gap
between experience and the world makes knowledge ultimately
impossible.
Other forms
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Hylomorphism, also called Aristotelian dualism, is the view that every
physical entity is composed of two aspects: matter and form. Matter is
the underlying stuff that makes up entities with the potential to
manifest patterns and persist through changes. Form is the organizing
principle of an entity, encompassing not only shape but the intrinsic
arrangement that determines the entity's essence. Unlike Platonic
dualism, hylomorphism does not posit that matter or form can exist on
their own in different realms. Instead, it regards them as correlated
and inseparable principles that explain the structural and functional
unity of concrete entities. Other dualisms in metaphysics exist
between being and appearance, being and becoming, being and non-being,
particulars and universals, and matter and life.
In ethics and value theory, the fact-value dualism, also called
'fact-value distinction' and 'fact-value dichotomy', posits a
fundamental division between descriptive and evaluative statements.
Descriptive statements report facts about the world, while evaluative
statements express value judgments about good and bad or right and
wrong. This dualism is closely related to the is-ought problem or
Hume's law, which states that one cannot deduce an evaluative
statement about what ought to be from a descriptive statement about
what is. The dualism of practical reason also belongs to the field of
ethics. It is the view, primarily associated with Henry Sidgwick, that
practical rationality is governed by two competing and irreconcilable
principles: egoism and utilitarianism. Egoism holds that rational
action is driven by self-interest and aims to do what is good for the
actor. Utilitarianism holds that people should promote everyone's
well-being. The dualism of practical reason asserts that no higher
principle reconciles these two approaches, meaning that conflicts
between self-interest and universal well-being are, in principle,
rationally irresolvable.
The nature-culture dualism, also called the nature-culture divide, is
the tendency to treat nature and culture as separate and opposing
realms. It conceives nature as an original state of the external
environment, free from human influence. Culture is understood as the
sphere of human practices and institutions, including technology and
human-made meanings. The nature-culture dualism plays a central role
in the idea that humans are exceptional in a positive or negative
sense. Positively, it can be used to justify human domination over
nature by establishing a rational order; negatively, it may
characterize humans as a malicious influence that disrupts the natural
world and degrades its ecosystems. Nature-culture dualism contrasts
with monist views that see a continuum between nature and culture
rather than a strict separation. A related dualism focusing on the
divide between nature and humans distinguishes two fundamental types
of explanation: based on causes and based on reasons. It asserts that
explanations of natural events proceed by identifying causes and
effects, whereas explanations of human actions rely on reasons that
motivate people to act without reducing their behavior to causal
mechanisms.
Soul dualism is the view that a person has two souls. It is found in
several indigenous belief systems and can take various forms. One
anthropological classification describes the indigenous distinction
between a stationary or body soul, which is tied to the body as its
animating vital principle, and a mobile or free soul, which can
separate from the body in dreams or trance states.
In legal theory, dualism is a view about the relation between domestic
and international law. Domestic law operates within a state as a set
of rules governing how individuals and institutions may behave,
including a country's constitution and its criminal and civil codes.
International law encompasses conventions and treaties between states
and other international actors, such as the UN Charter and the Geneva
Conventions. Dualism holds that these domains of law are fundamentally
different and function independently as separate legal systems. It
contrasts with monism, which emphasizes the unity of these two
domains, arguing that there is ultimately only a single universal
legal system encompassing both. The difference between monism and
dualism is particularly relevant for cases where domestic and
international law conflict, raising the question of whether one system
should take precedence over the other.
In quantum physics, the wave-particle dualism or wave-particle duality
is the idea that quantum entities exhibit both wave-like and
particle-like behavior. For example, light behaves similarly to a wave
by showing interference and diffraction patterns, but also carries
discrete energy quanta, known as photons, which interact with matter
(e.g., in a photon detector), as if they were particles.
Criticisms
======================================================================
Several criticisms of dualism have been formulated. Most target
specific types, such as objections to mind-body dualism. However, some
arguments seek to undermine dualism as a whole by challenging general
patterns in most or all of its forms. They typically assert that the
strict division of a domain into two opposing categories is misguided
since it ignores continuities or oversimplifies the complexity of
reality. Dualist thought may further lead to pseudoproblems, such as
the difficulty of explaining how two realms, regarded as fundamentally
distinct, can interact. It can also introduce evaluative biases that
privilege one side over the other. The hierarchies that may result
from dualist thought were of particular interest to postmodern
philosophers. For example, Jacques Derrida regarded the tendency to
think in binary oppositions as a hallmark of Western thought and
proposed the method of deconstruction to undermine strict oppositions.
Other objections focus on the term 'dualism' rather than dualist
theories. They question its academic usefulness, arguing that it is
too vague and ambiguous to serve as a precise analytical category.
Critics highlight the lack of consensus on the term's exact meaning
and the difficulty of distinguishing it from related labels, such as
'duality'.
History
======================================================================
Dualism originated in ancient thought. Zoroastrianism, an early form
of ethical dualism, emerged in Persia in the 2nd or 1st millenniumBCE.
It regarded the world as a struggle between good and evil, personified
as the conflict between the deities Ahura Mazda and Angra
Mainyu.{{efn|Scholars debate the status of the myth of Osiris and Seth
from ancient Egypt as a type of dualism, contrasting life and
fertility with disorder and sterility.}} In ancient Greece, Pythagoras
() and his followers believed in the dualistic conception of the
transmigration of souls and endorsed a cosmological dualism, according
to which opposites are real features of the world. Plato () introduced
a strict division of reality into intelligible Forms, which have
timeless existence, and sensory matter, which is a mutable substance.
He argued that the Forms are the objects of true knowledge while
material entities imitate them without fully reflecting their
perfection. His student Aristotle (384-322 BCE) challenged the view
that forms have independent existence. Instead, he proposed
hylomorphism, which treats matter and form as correlated and
inseparable aspects of concrete entities. In the 1st and 2nd centuries
CE, Gnosticism flourished as a family of Hellenistic religious and
philosophical views. Many of its strands advocate dualist views,
focusing on the contrast between evil matter and good spirit and
arguing that each person's soul is destined to free itself from the
material prison of the body. Manichaeism is a closely related Persian
religion that originated in the 3rd century CE, sometimes considered a
form of Gnosticism. It sees a foundational conflict between the
principles of light and darkness, corresponding to a struggle of
spirit and wisdom against matter and ignorance.
In ancient India, Jainism emerged roughly in the 6th century BCE as a
religious tradition that teaches a basic dualism between matter and
soul. It argues that souls are reborn because they accumulate karmic
matter and can achieve liberation from matter and rebirth by following
the right lifestyle. A related dualism is found in Samkhya, one of the
main schools of Hindu philosophy. It identifies and contrasts two
foundational principles: 'purusha'a pure consciousness and inactive
observerand the primal material nature whose activity gives rise to
all manifest phenomena.
In ancient China, the 'yinyang' school of thought was active in the
1st millennium BCE. It regards yin and yang as two complementary
principles acting as an interdependent duality of all things: yin
represents femaleness, passivity, and darkness, while yang stands for
maleness, activity, and brightness. Another foundational contrast was
proposed by the neo-Daoist philosopher Wang Bi (226-249 CE), who
introduced a basic division between being and non-being. He held that
non-being serves as the source and foundation of all phenomena and
transcends the contrast between yin and yang.
In the late classical and postclassical periods, Abrahamic religions
were generally suspicious of dualism. Christian thought contained some
dualist elements, such as the contrast between God and Satan and the
belief that the soul is distinct from the body and can survive bodily
death. However, these strands were often counterbalanced by monist
tendencies, such as the belief in a single God as the ultimate source
of the world. Significant deviations from this monist outlook were
branded as heresies, including the Paulicians, Bogomils, and Cathars.
Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE) rejected the ethical dualism of
Manichaeism, arguing that evil is not a substantive force but rather
an absence of goodness. Influenced by Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas
(1224-1274 CE) embraced hylomorphism and adapted it to Christianity.
He regarded all concrete entities as composites of matter, which
carries potentiality, and form, which corresponds to actuality.
Similar to the Christian tradition, Islamic thought, with its emphasis
on monotheism, tended to avoid dualistic tendencies.
Various developments in medieval India centered on the contrast
between monism and dualism, leading to the emergence of distinct
schools of thought. In the 8th century, Shankara founded Advaita
Vedanta, a strict monism holding that ultimate reality is
fundamentally unified while the experienced multiplicity of separate
entities is an illusion. In the 11th or 12th century, Ramanuja
proposed Vishishtadvaita, a qualified nondualism that accepts the
cosmic unity of Brahman but also recognizes non-illusory distinctions
within that unity. The dualist school of Dvaita Vedanta emerged in the
13th century through the works of Madhva, who argued for a fundamental
difference between the independent reality of God and the dependent
reality of other entities, including souls and matter. Meanwhile, in
China, the neo-Confucian thinker Zhu Xi (1130-1200) proposed a basic
division between 'li' and 'qi', corresponding to the contrast between
the abstract, rational order of the universe and the animating life
force that actualizes this pattern.
In the early modern period, René Descartes (1596-1650) developed an
influential mind-body dualism. He held that body and mind are
fundamentally distinct substances: bodies are extended in space,
whereas minds are unextended, thinking entities. Descartes regarded
humans as a union of mind and body, arguing that the two substances
interact but can exist on their own. Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677)
criticized this substance dualism, proposing instead a rigorous monism
that treats mind and body as two attributes of a single substance.
Spinoza's thought also opposed theological dualisms between God and
the world: he argued for a pantheism according to which there exists
only a single substance, referring to it as 'God or Nature'. Another
response to Descartes's dualism came from Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
(1646-1716), who rejected interactionism and suggested that mind and
body are in a pre-established harmony without causal interaction.
David Hume (1711-1776) drew a strict distinction between what is and
what ought to be, arguing that descriptive and evaluative statements
are fundamentally different. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) emphasized the
epistemological division into appearances and things in themselves,
maintaining that knowledge is limited to the realm of appearances but
cannot access the things in themselves. Thomas Henry Huxley
(1825-1895) sought to solve the interaction problem of mind-body
dualism by formulating epiphenomenalismthe theory that physical events
cause mental events, but mental events do not influence physical
events. Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911) proposed a dualist approach to
understanding according to which causal explanations in natural
sciences are fundamentally different from interpretative understanding
in the human sciences.
In the course of the 20th century, substance dualism was largely
replaced by materialism, partly because of the interaction problem and
scientific advances in the empirical study of the mind. Philosophers
discussed many monist approaches to the mind-body problem, such as
behaviorism, functionalism, type identity theory, eliminative
materialism, and neutral monism. Property dualism emerged as a dualist
alternative, suggesting that mind and body are not separate substances
but different kinds of properties of the same substance. Postmodern
philosophers challenged dualist thinking in terms of strict
oppositions, exploring how it may rely on hidden assumptions and
introduce evaluative biases.
See also
======================================================================
*
* Dualism (cybernetics)
* Duality (electrical circuits)
* Duality (mathematics)
* List of dualities
*
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