Dialectical monism, also known as dualistic monism or monistic dualism, is an

ontological Ontology is the philosophical study of being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of reality and every ...

position that holds that reality is ultimately a unified whole, distinguishing itself from

monism Monism attributes oneness or singleness () to a concept, such as to existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished: * Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., in Neoplatonis ...

by asserting that this whole necessarily expresses itself in dualistic terms.

History

Dialectical monism has been mentioned in Western literature, although infrequently.

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

used the term on at least one occasion, in his ''

Critique of Dialectical Reason ''Critique of Dialectical Reason'' () is a 1960 book by the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, in which the author further develops the existentialist Marxism he first expounded in his essay '' Search for a Method'' (1957). ''Critique of Dialectical R ...

''.

"It is dualist because it is monist. Marx’s ontological monism consisted in affirming the irreducibility of Being to thought, and, at the same time, in reintegrating thoughts with the real as a particular form of human activity." —Jean-Paul Sartre, ''
Critique of Dialectical Reason ''Critique of Dialectical Reason'' () is a 1960 book by the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, in which the author further develops the existentialist Marxism he first expounded in his essay '' Search for a Method'' (1957). ''Critique of Dialectical R ...
'', Vol. 1. Theory of Practical Ensembles

In Sartre's seminal work, the ''Critique of Dialectical Reason'', it is shown how the essential dualism of Marx corresponds to a heightened synthesis, referring to totality, which is the monism that grounds the theses and antitheses of Marxism. In its article on

Aztec philosophy Aztec philosophy was a school of philosophy that developed out of Aztec culture.Mann, Charles C. '' 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. p, 121. Aztec cosmology was in some sense dualistic, ...

, the ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' describes Aztec (

Nahua The Nahuas ( ) are a Uto-Nahuan ethnicity and one of the Indigenous people of Mexico, with Nahua minorities also in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. They comprise the largest Indigenous group in Mexico, as well as ...

) metaphysics as a form of dialectical monism:

Although essentially processive and devoid of any permanent order, the ceaseless becoming of the cosmos is nevertheless characterized by an overarching balance, rhythm, and regularity: one provided by and constituted by ''teotl''... Dialectical polar monism holds that: (1) the cosmos and its contents are substantively and formally identical with ''teotl''; and (2) ''teotl'' presents itself primarily as the ceaseless, cyclical oscillation of polar yet complementary opposites.

''Teotl's'' process presents itself in multiple aspects, preeminent among which is duality. This duality takes the form of the endless opposition of contrary yet mutually interdependent and mutually complementary polarities that divide, alternately dominate, and explain the diversity, movement, and momentary arrangement of the universe. These include: being and not-being, order and disorder, life and death, light and darkness, masculine and feminine, dry and wet, hot and cold, and active and passive. Life and death, for example, are mutually arising, interdependent, and complementary aspects of one and the same process.

Notes

References

* Dialectic Monism Metaphysics of religion Jean-Paul Sartre {{reli-metaphysics-stub