Word.ws English Dictionary

substance dualism

substance dualism noun: the doctrine that the body and the mind are separate, distinct and causally-related substances, where the body is physical and the mind is nonphysical.

Noun

substance dualism (uncountable)

  1. The doctrine that the body and the mind are separate, distinct and causally-related substances, where the body is physical and the mind is nonphysical.
    • According to substance dualism, mind and body, whilst quite distinct, interact with one another. Sensory information about the state of the world is sent from brain to mind, and decisions about how to react are sent from mind to brain.2005, Ian Ravenscroft, Philosophy of Mind: A Beginner's Guide, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 10
    • This substance dualism is theologically significant, reminding us that, for example, (1) persons are capable of surviving bodily death and (2) the incarnation (God, who is spirit, becomes man) is possible, as the person of Jesus is not identical to his body […].2005, Paul Copan, "How do you know you're not wrong?", Baker Books, →ISBN, page 92

Origin of substance dualism

From substance + dualism.

Questions about substance dualism

What does substance dualism mean?
Substance dualism means the doctrine that the body and the mind are separate, distinct and causally-related substances, where the body is physical and the mind is nonphysical.
What part of speech is substance dualism?
Substance dualism is a noun.

Words near substance dualism in the dictionary

  1. substalagmitic
  2. substance
  3. substance abuse
  4. substance dependence
  5. substance dependences
  6. substance dualism
  7. substance P
  8. substance use disorder
  9. substance use disordered
  10. substance-wise
  11. substanced

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: substance dualism (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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