Every sane person has an idea of what dualism is. From the name itself it becomes clear that we are talking about the presence of two principles. That is, duality (dualism) is the idea of the existence of two opposite principles, which cannot be reduced to one another, but at the same time they cannot exist without each other. The dualities take the form of some polar constructs in the human mind. After all, people operate with precisely such opposite concepts as good and evil, white and black, etc. The principle of dualism is the assertion that at the heart of everything that is in this world are two opposing principles. If we go further, life itself is a struggle of opposites. At rest there is no life, development. In the struggle, truth is born.
Metaphysical explanation
The concept of the two principles of all things is as ancient as the world itself. Dualism is not a division of the world into two levels, of a plan, it is an inextricable relationship, the mutual conditioning of these opposite principles. As already mentioned, without one there is no other. One beginning is explained through another. For example, without light there is no darkness, without evil there is no good and the like.
Duality within us
According to the adherents of dualism, duality is also contained within man himself. It is she who makes us look at the world as a confrontation of irreducible principles. As G. Simmel rightly observes, a person never looks at the world as a whole, he always decomposes reality into an infinite number of opposites. Therefore, dualism is our nature. We, as part of the world, reflect its properties, and duality is an example of this.
Dualism of body and soul
Since ancient times, thinkers have always been interested in how the body and soul relate, in what relations these eternal substances are.
There are several explanations, such as the theory of dualism. This theory occupies a special position between the theory of faith, which considers the body to be a mortal vessel, the “prison of the soul”, and the theory of denial, according to which there is no soul at all. Adherents of the ideas of duality believe that the body is a perfect substance that can well function without a spiritual component. But the body is not a man. The essence of man, his mind and self-consciousness are in the concept of the soul. The followers of dualism believe that the soul is primary, and the body is its natural extension. The theory of dualism claims that all living things in the world (including humans) have an animal soul. And only a person, and even then not always, receives a spiritual soul, which defines him as a person. The animal soul provides the life of the body, many people live their whole life without a spiritual soul. Thus, dualism is the most complete and convenient explanation of the essence of man. In the philosophy of consciousness, this principle is very widespread due to the fact that consciousness (spirit, spirit soul) and body (matter) are recognized as substances of equal importance, each performs its own functions, and at the same time they complement each other.
Conclusion
Thus, dualism acts as a teaching that recognizes the presence of two opposite principles in every moment of life. In the philosophy of duality, the ideal and the material are equal and irrelevant. In theology, dualism is expressed in the struggle of the good and evil gods, this confrontation is eternal and unchanging.
