Ethical dualism
practice of imputing evil entirely and exclusively to a specific group of people, while disregarding or denying one's own capacity to commit evil
Ethical dualism, also called moral dualism, is the view that good and evil are antagonistic forces that govern the world and are locked in a perpetual conflict.
Metaphysical dualism and ethical dualism
In relation to the theory of dualism in its broader philosophical and metaphysical sense, it is useful to point out how ethical dualism differs from it or what it adds to it.
Dualism is a theory which interprets any given situation in terms of two contrasting elements, which from a metaphysical point of view comes to imply that reality consists of two fundamental types of existence which cannot be reduced to each other. Examples of metaphysical dualisms are those between spirit and matter, God and the world, or, as theorized by Descartes, between thought and extension.
Ethical dualism, on the other hand, highlights the moral dimension instead or in addition to the metaphysical one, and envisions an inherent situation of conflict between two antagonistic forces, like light and darkness, Good and Evil.
Religious interpretations
Zoroastrianism
One of the most known and clear-cut interpretations of ethical dualism is the one conceptualized by Zoroastrianism, the ancient Persian religion, which bases its thought on the figure of the prophet Zoroaster (or Zarathustra), who claimed the existence of two original and contrasting principles, Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, respectively representing the forces of Good and Evil. The world is therefore identified as the battleground between these two contrasting entities, also associated with light and darkness.
Each man and woman, for his or her self, select either of the two [...] The worst mind shall be for the wrongful, and the best mind shall be for the righteous.
Also, in Zoroastrianism, there is no room for reconcilement between the two opposing forces of good and evil:
Neither our thoughts, not teachings, nor intellects, nor choices, nor words, nor deeds, nor consciences, nor souls agree.
Judaism
Zoroastrianism and its doctrine of ethical dualism influenced the Jews and their thinking, as there is general agreement among scholars that the Jewish apocalypticism presents traits of dualism.
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