Duality without Dualism

It is a matter of common sense that the world is composed of a multiplicity of discrete, separable objects. Indeed, this worldview of perceptual objects is practical and essential for everyday life. As the atomic theory of matter emerged, it was rather natural to assume that atoms were small-scale counterparts of everyday objects. Indeed, such a simplistic, philosophical atomism became an accepted part of the implicit metaphysics of classical physics. Similarly commonsensical is the basic distinction between mind and matter which, with Descartes, was elevated to a philosophical first principle. Descartes’ mind-matter distinction became the prime exemplar of dualism, the notion that certain concepts related in experience are not really related but belong to different categories, and that the apparent relationship of such dual pairs derives only from secondary connections. In contrast, the process-relational approach emphasizes a “duality without dualism” which affirms the fundamental connection of such concepts as being/becoming, mind/matter, and symmetry/asymmetry, but does so in a way that avoids a simplistic symmetry of the dualities. In particular, contrasts are presented of the form “both A with respect to x and B with respect to y” instead of simple dualisms that set up some form of absolute “A versus B” opposition. In this way, a process framework grounds the “both-and” approach described below, which is embodied in the transition from classical to modern physics. By correlating various dualities in modern physics and philosophy, we demonstrate a new tool for testing certain philosophical claims and for suggesting new hypotheses of interest in physics. The nuanced correlates discussed by Whitehead and some process philosophers are closer to complementary pairs in modern physics than traditional dualisms.