Exploring the Philosophical Divide: Dualism and Materialism Explained

This essay explores the philosophical concepts of dualism and materialism, addressing the core question of how they differ. It begins by introducing René Descartes' famous quote, "I think, therefore I am," and its connection to the mind-body problem, which is central to the debate. The essay defines dualism as the belief in two distinct realms: the physical and the spiritual, with different types like substance dualism, property dualism, and predicate dualism. It then contrasts this with materialism, which posits that everything is made of matter and energy. The essay discusses key philosophers associated with each position, including Plato and Descartes for dualism, and Descartes and Karl Marx (indirectly) for materialism. It highlights the differing positions, arguments, and challenges faced by each perspective, ultimately aiming to clarify the fundamental distinctions between these two influential philosophical viewpoints. The essay also includes an introduction, a definition of dualism, a definition of materialism, the position of dualists, the position of materialists, and a conclusion. The essay also includes a bibliography with the sources used.

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Topic - How does dualism and materialism differ?
Introduction
“I think, therefore I am”, is arguably one of the most prominent quotes in philosophy.
Originated from René Descartes, the meaning translate to the mind as the only assured existence.
Descartes uncertainty of knowledge led him to examine the existence of the physical world,
where he concludes with the human body made of both physical and mental substances. This
fundamental difference is known as the mind-body problem which relates to dualism. The mind-
body argument created a long-standing debate, that have been discussed for many years with
famous philosophers arguing for and against. Philosophers who supported the mind-body
argument are known as dualists, while others who are against are known as materialists.
Materialists believe there are only one reality which is matter, which completely doubts the mind
and body as being two different substances.
Dualism meaning
Dualism is a philosophy branch of metaphysics with many types. The main types are
substance dualism, property dualism, and predicate dualism. The foundational concept of
dualism asserts two realm within reality where the mind and soul is two completely different
entities. A physical and spiritual; the physical being our body is believed to be separate from our
spiritual self, known as our consciousness. Consciousness is one of life biggest mystery as many
often wondered, how it works since every human body is built the same. Somehow, we all think
and act differently and have what separate us from others which is our consciousness. Scientists
for many years appealed to chemistry and physics in an attempt to discover how consciousness
work in the human body. With links to neurology they believe electric neurons play a critical

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role in the networking of our brain. Despite many research done, they still cannot pin point
exactly how consciousness works.
Substance dualism is the most popular type of dualism. It contains the main components
with slight difference compared to other types. The belief of substance dualism states that there
are two foundation, the body and mental. The other type of dualism is property dualism. The
view of property dualism is similar to substance dualism but instead of two complete different
foundation of the body and mental. There is only the physical substance with mental properties,
such as beliefs, desires, and emotions that inherent in the brain. The last type of dualism is
predicate dualism.
Materialism meaning
Materialism sometimes known as physicalism, is the opposite of dualism. It is the belief
that everything is made of various forms of matter and energy and that everything can be
explained in relation to it. Materialism is not exactly the same as physicalism as physicalism
evolved with new advancements of physical sciences. Both terms are often used mutually, but is
usually distinguished when talking about physics, more specifically when discussing on more
than just matter.
When discussing materialism, it should be taken into consideration that there are certain
levels. Hard and soft; hard-materialists are people who completely believe the world is built on
the basis of matter and that our body is one physical substance. The conscious being our
chemical reactions and our brain activity; when the body dies, along goes the brain and there is
no survival after death. Soft-materialists on the other hand, are people who accept that not all

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characteristics of the body are physical. They believe some physical objects have mental
properties to it, that our brain and consciousness are more than just one.
Dualists positions
Plato was an early proponent of the concept in his theory of forms. Plato theorised there
is an alternative reality which he calls the realm of forms. All the imperfections of the physical
realm resembles that of the realm of form where the most perfect are held.
René Descartes was another proponent philosopher of dualism; he doubted the existence of his
body believing there are a major difference between the human mind and body. This type of
dualism is known as substance dualism.
The classical emphasis of the position of the dualist originated in ‘Phaedo’ by Plato. According
to the description by Plato, true substances are actually not the physical bodies that are
ephemeral but the bodies with eternal forms are the major imperfect copies1. Within the context
of dualism, the philosophers that is the dualist projected that mind is generally contrasted with
the body with different aspects of the mind that have been the centre of attention. One of the
challenge of the dualist approach of Plato was that there has been n clear account regrading what
bind a soul to a body. The differences within the nature actually makes the union a wide mystery.
The idea related to the dualist thinking and situations includes the fact that there lies both
god and an evil way for being; which the things and people should be categorized. This needs to
be done as per the specific meets of standards regarding the idea of the purity of thoughts and
1 Robinson, W. S. (2018). Dualism. In The Routledge Handbook of Consciousness (pp. 51-63) |
Routledge.

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that of toxicity2. The position and the thinking of the dualist is the way in which most of the
people act and think. Some of the well known quotes from the dualist view are “ Duality is the
real root of our sufferings and that of all our conflict”.
Materialist’s positions
According to Flatschart (2017), most of the academic philosophers of the current decade
denote themselves as materialists without any of the hesitations. The location of the materialist
centres around the element of secular humanism which is the movement rejecting the traditional
religion towards the favour of living an ethical life on the basis of the reason and the compassion
rather than the obedience towards holy3. Some of the well known quotes in the light of the
materialist position includes “ To be content with little is difficult, to be content with much,
impossible”.
Two of the significant philosophers with their theory towards materialism includes
Descartes and Karl Marx. Descartes is one of the famous materialist since he never doubted over
the independent existence of the material world that is outside of the consciousness. According
to this materialist philosopher, the entire material world is given within the sense perception.
Being a rationalist, however, as per Descartes, the world beyond the senses is actually
knowledgeable only by the reasoning activity. Karl Marx on the other hand has a materialist
2 Anderson, P. (2016). In the tracks of historical materialism| Verso Books.
3 Flatschart, E. (2017). Feminist Standpoints and Critical Realism. The Contested Materiality of
Difference in Intersectionality and New Materialism | Journal of Critical Realism, 16(3), 284-
302.

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conception regarding the human thought and the world4. The materialist conception of Marx
regarding the reality was a means towards the understanding of human engagement with social
and natural worlds.
How they differ
There have been some of the significant unsolved challenges in the philosophy that still
exists within the lay sense. Philosophical problems are the questions raised by the study of
philosophy5. This essay will illustrate the topic of dualism and materialism and how it differs as
per the philosophical context.
In light of the context of this essay, dualism is the idea that there lie a body and a separate
range of soul6. The concept of materialism, on the other hand, is the idea that consciousness is
being created or developed by the body within the brain. Though being stronger ideas within the
mind of the humans, it is a dilemma that which one is the right and which one is not.
According to Schadler (2016), dualism is the way to incorporate divine energy within
one's mechanical bodies. Individuals are given the soul by the creator and are furthermore
separated from the physical world. In the context of philosophy, dualism can be highlighted as
the use of two different, irreducible principles for the practical analysis of the reasonable
procedure for the explanation of the reality towards the broader aspects. Dualism is generally
4 Holt, J. (2015). The social thought of Karl Marx (pp. 41-66) | Sage Publications.
5 Schadler, C. (2016). How to define situated and ever‐transforming family configurations? A
new materialist approach | Journal of Family Theory & Review, 8(4), 503-514.
6 Burk, D. L. (2015). Copyright and the new materialism | Intellectual Property and Access to
Im/Material Goods, Jessica Lai & Antoinette Maget, eds.

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distinguished from the context of monism that acknowledges principles from pluralism invoking
more than two of the basic principles. Some of the well-noted quotes of dualism include "Put
light against light, and you have nothing. Put dark against the dark, and you have nothing. It is
basically the contrast of the dark and the light that gives each other their meaning". Furthermore,
in the context of the modern secular thoughts which has its own dualism, there is “ No tree, it is
said can grow to heaven unless its root reaches down to the hell".
In the context of philosophy, materialism includes the view that all the facts that
furthermore consists of the will and the human mind and also the course of the history are
dependent over the physical process that is reducible to them7. Used variedly in the modern
times, the word "materialism" refers to the family of metaphysical theories, specifically the
methods of nature or the reality. In the context of the materialism in philosophy, this theory tends
to be self-sufficient for resembling of the paradigmatic approach.
Some of the well known quotes of materialism in philosophy include, "Happiness is
never found within the materialistic things but is exists in the things that cannot be possessed
physically. Hence happiness is priceless and thus can never be purchased". In the context of the
analysis by Bayne (2018), the broader perspective of materialism includes the tendency towards
the consideration of physical comfort, and the material possessions are more essential or crucial
7 Wolfe, C. T. (2016). Materialism: A Historico-Philosophical Introduction | Springer .

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in respect to the spiritual values8. “ The happiest people are not the ones who have the best or the
most materialistic things, but actually those who appreciate most what they actually have".
The position of the dualist is a toxic way. The dualist thinking spells the judgements,
which influences that fact that we are better than the others. The location of the materialists, on
the other hand in the philosophy, asserts that each and everything can furthermore be submitted
or can be explained in relation to matter9. Though not directly connected to care for only the
materials, the philosophy related to materialist positions claims about the nature of the reality.
The materialist belief that each and everything is made of the energy and matter with the
immaterial spirits like the supernatural gods and spirits.
Conclusion
Thus it can be summarized from the above discussion that Philosophical challenges are
the questions raised by the study of philosophy. The concept of dualism deals with the belief that
mind and body are totally separate. It is the concept concerning the fact that all the mind involves
more than just the brain alone. Materialism is the exact opposite concept of dualism. This belief
includes the idea that everything within the universe is actually made from the physical
materials, including the mind and the brain of a human.
8 Bayne, T. (2018). Problems with Unity of Consciousness Arguments for Substance Dualism
| The Blackwell Companion to Substance Dualism, 208.
9 Anderson, K., & Perrin, C. (2015). New materialism and the stuff of humanism | Australian
Humanities Review, 58, 1-15.

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