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What is the difference between duality and dichotomy?

They sound very much alike to me, but there is a subtle difference between them. I'm not sure what this difference is, however.

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  • Frankly, this is a simple look-up in any dictionary. Questions are supposed to contain minimum research and not be, usually, completely open ended. – Lambie Feb 08 '19 at 17:57

2 Answers2

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A "dichotomy" splits a category into two subcategories. A "false dichotomy" is a logical error that incorrectly asserts that something must be in one category or the other; it claims the thing cannot be both or partway in between.

A "duality" describes two aspects of a single thing. For example, applying the "wave-particle duality" principle to light says that for some purposes, a small enough amount of light behaves like a particle; and for other purposes, it behaves like a wave.

Jasper
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  • Can duality be used to mean duplicity. Since it duality means to be dual. And duplicity means to be dual faced? –  Feb 08 '19 at 07:12
  • "Two-faced" and "snake-tongued" are much better synonyms for "duplicity" than "duality". "Duality" usually refers to complementary things (such as the two monarchies of Sparta, or the Austrian and Hungarian halves of the Austro-Hungarian empire), not to opposite things. – Jasper Feb 08 '19 at 07:25
  • @StewartGilliganGriffin -- Another example of your point: the "dual" of a mathematical problem involves negating various aspects of the original problem. – Jasper Feb 08 '19 at 07:32
  • His poems reveal the duality of his nature, the joy and hope, the fear and despair Isn't in this comment duality is used with two contrary things? You said it's only used with complementary things @Jasper –  Feb 08 '19 at 07:37
  • Yeah, you're right that it can't be used to mean duplicity. But yes unlike dichotomy, duality can be used with both complementary and opposite things. For example ,The duality of worshipping Aphrodite with Adonis.whereas a dichotomy is always the division of a whole into two things that are contradictory. for example good and evil . Now I got it right? I seem to have answered my own question. Lol –  Feb 08 '19 at 08:05
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    @StewartGilliganGriffin: Stack Exchange explicitly encourages you to write an answer to your own question if you have figure out an answer to your own question. In fact, it is even encouraged to post a question with the sole intent of answering it yourself (there is even an answer box right underneath the question box so that you can post both at the same time). Like always, do make sure that you follow all the rules, though. – Jörg W Mittag Feb 08 '19 at 08:44
  • @StewartGilliganGriffin The reason why you would say "His poems reveal the duality of his nature..." is that it demonstrates that if you only had the joy and hope, you wouldn't capture his nature. If you had the fear and dispair, you wouldn't capture his nature. It requires the interplay of both in order to capture him. – Cort Ammon Feb 08 '19 at 18:05
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    @StewartGilliganGriffin And you could use good and evil as either a dichotomy or a duality, but the intended meaning would change depending on which word you use. If you use it as a dichotomy, you would be arguing "There are good things, and there are evil things." If you use it as a duality, you would be saying something like "There can't be good without evil, and there can't be evil without good." – Cort Ammon Feb 08 '19 at 18:06
  • ‘A strong leader must discriminate between right and wrong and all other dualities, and then form his judgment before taking action.’ @cortammon I think in this sentence duality isn't used for complements –  Feb 09 '19 at 12:11
  • @StewartGilliganGriffin That one may be a difficult sentence to process. It's from a Hindu speaker, and their approach to right and wrong is more complimentary than it is in Western belief structures. Indeed, in the page I found with that quote, the sentence before it was "Good and evil are represented by the two tusks of the elephant." – Cort Ammon Feb 09 '19 at 16:27
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    I think this answer defines dichotomy and duality as different and opposing. To use the example, a "wave-particle dichotomy" theory would say that light can either be a wave or a particle, but never both at the same time, while "wave-particle duality" says light can behave like a wave and a particle at the same time, depending on how you look at it. – Dan Stevens Jul 10 '20 at 10:03
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Unlike dichotomy ,duality can be used with both complementary and opposite things. For example:

The duality of worshipping Aphrodite with Adonis

whereas a dichotomy is always the division of a whole into two things that are contradictory.

Lucian Sava
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