Dualism

Dualism is a family of views proposing 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 of dualist thought argue that it ignores continuities, oversimplifies reality, creates pseudoproblems, or introduces evaluative biases.