dualismo

Dualismo is a term used in philosophy and religion to denote the belief that two kinds of reality or fundamental substances exist. In philosophy, it most often refers to the mind–body problem: the idea that mental and physical phenomena constitute distinct kinds of substance or reality. The most influential version is Cartesian substance dualism, advanced by René Descartes, who distinguished res cogitans (thinking substance) from res extensa (extended substance) and held that they interact in the body, notably via the pineal gland. This interactionist view faces difficulties explaining how two distinct substances causally interact.

Variants of dualism include property dualism, which denies that there are two substances but holds that mental properties—such as beliefs and desires—are distinct from physical properties. Other approaches consider how the mental and physical realms relate, such as interactionist, parallelist, or occasionalist theories. Some philosophers, such as Spinoza, argued for monism, the view that there is only one kind of substance. Contemporary debates also include dual-aspect theories, which regard mind and body as two aspects of a single underlying reality, and epiphenomenalism, where mental states do not affect physical states.

In religious contexts, dualism often refers to the separation between good and evil, or sacred and profane, and appears in various traditions alongside monistic interpretations. Today dualism is less favored in the natural sciences, where physicalism dominates, but it remains a topic in philosophy of mind and metaphysics, guiding discussions of consciousness, intentionality, and mental causation.