Dual aspect monism

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Dual aspect monism is a philosophical theory stating that mind and matter are not two distinct substances, but rather two complementary, inseparable aspects of a single, underlying reality. This fundamental, “psychophysically neutral” reality is neither inherently mental nor physical, but acts as a foundation from which both emerge. Wikipedia +5

Key Aspects of Dual Aspect Monism:

  • Fundamental Unity: Unlike dualism, it posits only one “stuff” or substance, known as the unus mundus (united world) in the Jung-Pauli scheme or the implicate order in Bohmian mechanics.
  • Irreducibility: Neither mind nor matter can be reduced to the other, nor can the underlying reality be reduced to either aspect.
  • Complementarity: Mind and matter are seen as two ways of looking at the same thing, similar to how a coin has two sides, or how quantum objects behave as both waves and particles.
  • Historical and Modern Context: While rooted in Spinoza’s philosophy (where one substance has two modes: thought and extension), it is a modern approach in the philosophy of mind, adopted by thinkers like David Chalmers, Wolfgang Pauli, and Carl Jung to bridge consciousness and physics. Reddit +4

Differences from Other Views:

  • Vs. Physicalism: Rejects that everything is fundamentally material.
  • Vs. Idealism: Rejects that everything is fundamentally mental.
  • Vs. Dualism: Rejects that mind and body are two separate substances that somehow interact. Wikipedia +4

This view offers a way to avoid the “hard problem” of consciousness by suggesting that subjective, mental experience and objective, physical activity are equally fundamental aspects of one reality. YouTube +1

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