Religious Dualism: Some Logical and Philosophical Difficulties

In our study we intend to clarify the significance of the phrase „religious dualism ” and to find in which situations it can be used appropriately. In this regard, we took into consideration first the meaning of such phrases as „dualism”, „religious dualism”, „cosmogonic dualism”, then the idea of religious dualist invariants (Ugo Bianchi) and that of absolute dualism (Mircea Eliade, J. Martin Velasco). We presented some apparent dualisms (discussed by Ioan Petru Culianu). The concept of radical or absolute dualism involves many logical and philosophical difficulties: a) it leads to confusion among such terms as opposition, contradiction and contrariety; it may appear as a contradictio in terminis, b) in a cosmogonic order, it indicates the suspension of the original process of creation; the relation between the two original principles becomes completely unintelligible. Consequently, we consider that we cannot speak about a really original cosmogonic dualism (in other words, no religion can be completely dualist). We also introduced the idea of unilateral dualism (being inspired by one of Constantin Noica’s philosophical studies), an idea which can be used in the interpretation of some cosmogonic myths and stories. Defining the concepts of „dualism ” and „religious dualism” It is generally accepted that religious dualism, the cosmological one, involves the cooperation of two principles or primordial forces in the process of world creation. In our opinion, this is a highly debatable point. However, in order t