Q&A: Atheism and Dualism
Atheism and Dualism
Question
Hello Rabbi,
How can a person be an atheist yet a dualist? In other words, if he is not a materialist, what prevents him from accepting the existence of God?
Answer
I didn’t understand the question. A person can be a dualist because he experiences within himself and in others something non-material. Why should that obligate him to accept the existence of God? The basis for atheism is not always a denial of the existence of spirit altogether. Some would argue that even if spiritual entities exist (such as the human soul), there is still no reason to accept His existence, since we have not seen Him, and therefore the burden of proof is on the one who claims that He exists.
Discussion on Answer
You can also be a materialist and believe in a non-material God who is outside the world.
In my opinion, belief in the existence of a spiritual element alongside a material element is not coherent if one does not assume the existence of God.
After all, someone who believes in this duality also believes in some kind of correlation between the two elements, and if so the question arises: how is this correlation possible in the first place?
In my view, the only coherent answer to this is to posit the existence of a spiritual authority that bridges, even if only partially, between the separate realms.