Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Dualism
Du′al-ism
,Noun.
[Cf. F.
dualisme
.] State of being dual or twofold; a twofold division; any system which is founded on a double principle, or a twofold distinction
; as: (a)
(Philos.)
A view of man as constituted of two original and independent elements, as matter and spirit.
(Theol.)
(b)
A system which accepts two gods, or two original principles, one good and the other evil.
(c)
The doctrine that all mankind are divided by the arbitrary decree of God, and in his eternal foreknowledge, into two classes, the elect and the reprobate.
(d)
(Physiol.)
The theory that each cerebral hemisphere acts independently of the other.
An inevitable
dualism
bisects nature, so that each thing is a half, and suggests another thing to make it whole. Emerson.
Definition 2024
dualism
dualism
English
Noun
dualism (countable and uncountable, plural dualisms)
- Duality; the condition of being double.
- (philosophy) The view that the world consists of, or is explicable in terms of, two fundamental principles, such as mind and matter or good and evil.
- (theology) The belief that the world is ruled by a pair of antagonistic forces, such as good and evil; the belief that man has two basic natures, the physical and the spiritual.
- (chemistry, dated) The theory, originated by Lavoisier and developed by Berzelius, that all definite compounds are binary in their nature, and consist of two distinct constituents, themselves simple or complex, and having opposite chemical or electrical affinities.
Derived terms
- Cartesian dualism
- predicate dualism
- property dualism
- substance dualism
Related terms
Translations
the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
the belief that the world is ruled by a pair of antagonistic forces