Concept in Definition ABC
Miscellanea / / July 04, 2021
By Florencia Ucha, in Sep. 2011
The Dualism is a philosophical doctrine what explains the origin and nature of the universe from the belief of the action of two different and opposing essences or principlesFor example, the struggle between good and evil are a very clear example of duality.
Good is associated with a positive idea while evil has a connotation negative in our society. For example, people tend to approach those who know how to do good and escape, get away, from those who are supposed to do wrong.
Good versus bad, the most popular duality
Now, although there may be an influence of subjectivity in the determination of good and evil, we can say that There is a social convention in this regard, and for example, people tend to handle it to move away or get closer to the bad good.
The good is closely linked to the good and the desirable, while the evil is linked to the unpleasant, pain, and suffering. In the good everything is usually happiness and there are no problems as if it happens with the evil.
Both are defined by opposition and in effect refer to two completely different essences. Other very frequently raised dualities are: matter-spirit and realism-idealism.
In a much broader sense, those doctrines that affirm two orders of being diametrically opposed are also called dualism.
Vision of Chinese philosophy
In the philosophy China dualism is materialized in the yin and yang; From these conceptions the duality of what exists in the universe is indicated. This idea applies to any existing situation or object since it is explained in the popular premise that promotes this doctrine: “that in everything good there is something bad and vice versa, in everything bad there is something good.”
Dualism has had a constant presence in the history of humanity. Theological dualism, for example, is based on the belief in the existence of a divine principle of good, associated with light, and on the opposite side, is the principle of evil, linked to darkness, to the Devil; God is pointed out as responsible for the creation of good, while the devil does the same with evil. So many of us have grown up with teaching religious something basic that the devil is bad, he does bad things and therefore we have to get away from him, and that God is the opposite of him, it is what brings us closer to all the good we can be. In this sense, dualism frees man from the responsibility of evil in the world.
The position of the catholic church
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church, has opposed this doctrine since it recognizes and defends an omnipotent and infinite God without the existence of an evil in the world that limits its potential. Everything that exists was created by God and therefore nothing created by him can be bad.
And also philosophy has been a context in which dualisms proliferated: in Pythagoras in the opposition between limit and unlimited, in Empedócles, with friendship and hatred, which Aristotle would later reinterpret as good and evil, Anaxagoras with primitive chaos versus intelligence, in Plato with the proposal of two worlds: the intelligible or ideal and the sensible or matter; the former is closely linked with the soul of the individual, while the other with his senses. For his part, Kant, with the rivalry between pure reason and practical reason, among others.
Diverse characters in a person
Also, the word dualism is used to refer to the existence of two different characters in the same person or thing, for example dualism in the personality of a person.
A situation of this type can certainly be complex and confusing for those people who live with the individual who has this tendency, because Of course, this duality will lead him to show himself in a way before a situation and then in a totally opposite way, which of course will end up confusing the people.
Thus, in a dual person we will be able to appreciate the realization of good and, on the other hand, the practice of an extreme evil that does not can be believed, because that person was seen to do something good and from one moment to another do something certainly bad and reprehensible. For example, helping a person in a street situation with food and money and then hitting him with violence because he came to ask her for a handout.
Topics in Dualism