dualism
Dualism names the view that reality or a moral order rests on two distinct principles, and it also labels sharp twofold splits in theology, politics and everyday talk.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Definitions
- A philosophical claim that reality or human nature rests on two primary, irreducible principles (often matter and mind, or body and spirit) rather than on a single underlying substance.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - In theology and comparative religion: a system that posits two divine beings or two primal powers, one good and one evil, instead of a single exclusive divine source.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - In political history: a constitutional arrangement of two states that keep separate governments under one shared sovereign (the classic case being the Austro-Hungarian monarchy).
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - In journalism and casual speech: a loose label for any sharp binary contrast (body versus mind, us versus them), often without a strict metaphysical cut.
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Examples
- The seminar opened by asking whether mind-body dualism can stand without assuming two substances.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - Her thesis lined metaphysical dualism up against monism, marking where a twofold principle ends.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - In the history handbook Austro-Hungarian dualism meant two states and one shared sovereign.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - The columnist used dualism as a stand-in for "us versus them", though the point was only a rhetorical dichotomy.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - He weighed religious dualism against monotheism and pantheism, asking where two moral powers stop and one exclusive God begins.
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Usage
In ordinary English dualism often tags a sharp twofold split: body versus mind, good versus evil, us versus them. Scholarly prose gains clarity when four layers stay apart: the metaphysical thesis of two primary principles, a theological model of two divine powers, a constitutional sense of two states under one sovereign, and a rhetorical figure. Pamphlets smear those layers together. State plainly whether you mean a doctrine, a cult contrast, a state form, or a jab. Otherwise the word melts into Manichaeism, dichotomy and simple two-camp framing.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Webster 1913 derives Dualism from dual (cf. French dualisme) and covers both a twofold condition and systems built on a double principle, spanning philosophy, theology and physiology. Dualist names the adherent; Dualistic is the adjective. Skeat 1910 under DUAL gives Latin dualis from duo (two), with derivatives dualism and duality. Those public-domain lemmas supply the lexical facts; the wording of this entry is written separately and does not copy dictionary phrasing.
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Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913; W. W. Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 1910, open sourceFrequent pairings are philosophical dualism, metaphysical dualism, religious dualism, critique of dualism, and debate over dualism. As a noun dualist labels someone who holds the view; dualistic serves as the adjective. Careful writers keep the lemma clear of monism (one principle), bare theism talk about a personal Creator, pantheism (divinity equated with the cosmos), and casual dichotomy talk that only splits a topic into two camps. Borders still shift by author.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Morphologically the noun joins dual (from Latin dualis, "twofold", itself from duo, "two") to the -ism ending, and Webster notes the French twin dualisme. Webster already carries Dualism, Dualist and Dualistic; Skeat records DUAL with the dualism and duality set. Our senses lean on those open sources plus editorial wording, not on a modern encyclopaedia paraphrase. Treating the label as mere rhetorical contrast alone softens the claim that two principles truly ground reality or morals.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Word forms
Regular English noun, usually uncountable; the plural dualisms is rare and marks distinct kinds or historical versions of the stance.
word forms
| przypadek | forma |
|---|---|
| singular | dualism |
| plural | dualisms |
Word forms: Editorial team
Collocations
- philosophical dualism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - metaphysical dualism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - religious dualism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - critique of dualism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - debate over dualism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
Synonyms · Antonyms
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open sourcesource
Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open sourceEtymology
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open sourcealso
W. W. Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Oxford 1910, open sourceRelated words
- dualist , noun: person who holds dualism (Webster 1913 Dualist; Skeat DUAL derivatives)
- dualistic , adjective: pertaining to dualism or duality (Webster 1913 Dualistic)
- dual , related adjective and base: twofold; from Latin dualis (Webster Dualism from dual; Skeat DUAL)
- duality , related noun: state of being dual (Skeat 1910 Der. dual-i-ty under DUAL)
- monism , related noun (contrastive): claim that reality rests on one principle rather than two
- dualizm , etymologically related Polish noun
Related entries
The same entry in Polish: dualizm
Questions and answers
What does dualism mean?
In philosophy it names the thesis that being or the person is grounded in two irreducible principles. In theology it can mean two divine powers, good and evil. In political history it can mean two states under one sovereign. Outside campus talk it often means any sharp twofold split. Scope follows register.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)How does dualism differ from monism?
Dualism affirms two distinct principles; monism affirms one. Webster 1913 under Dualism speaks of a twofold distinction and of matter and spirit among the applications. Casual speech often confuses both labels with dichotomy and Manichaeism. Scope still depends on the author.
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Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open sourceIs dualism the same as a simple dichotomy?
No. A dichotomy is any split into two classes. Dualism, in the stricter philosophical and theological senses, claims that two principles really ground reality or morals. Rhetoric often borrows the label for us-versus-them talk without that metaphysical claim.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Where does the word dualism come from?
The formation joins dual (Latin dualis from duo, "two") to -ism, with French dualisme noted by Webster. Webster 1913 opens Dualism from dual (cf. F. dualisme) and lists Dualist and Dualistic. Skeat 1910 has DUAL from Latin dualis from duo, with dual-ism and dual-i-ty. The English lemma follows that Latin path.