Examples Of Dualism

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What is really real? This question relates to the word ontology, the study of being, which asks what kind of things exist? There are three theories that are brought up by this word; Materialism; Idealism; Dualism. Materialism is the “metaphysical theory that matter is truly real and immaterial things are not (Kessler, 423).” Some examples of materialism are trees, cats, humans, chairs, etc. Material things are spatial, public, and mechanical. Idealism is the theory that ideas are ultimately real. Some examples of idealism are peace, love, hope, belief, faith, etc. Immaterial things are non-spatial, private, and teleological. Materialist and immaterialist things are real because there are physical aspects, like our bodies and our souls. This is called dualism, “the theory that reality is both material and immaterial (Kessler, 423).” …show more content…

For example, my body is a physical aspect of me, but I have a mental part of me as well. This part of me allows me to show emotions like hope and love. An important Indian figure, who would disagree with me, is Shankara. Shankara “wrote extensive commentaries interpreting important Hindu scriptures and became the leading advocate for school of philosophy known as Advaita (nondualism) Vedanta (end of the Vadas) (Kessler, 443).” He says that you can only define the ultimate reality by saying what it is not real. He does this by achieving the atman, which has five coverings: physical covering, the body: vital covering, the spirit: the mental, mind: the intellect: the bliss. Once these coverings have been removed, you have reached your atman, meaning you have achieved Brahman, the ultimate

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