Monism and Dualism

'Monism' and 'Dualism' are philosophical doctrines that hold that the number of fundamental principles of Reality are one, and two, respectively. The problem with most of them is that they are in fact neither one nor the other, but should most accurately be placed somewhere in between. One of the most prominent Dualists, Descartes, holds that there are two fundamental principles, Mind and Body. However, on closer examination, Mind is more important to him than Body, as perhaps best inferred from the point that his God is incorporeal. Hence, Mind is actually more fundamental than Body, which amounts to denying that the latter is fundamental to begin with. Spinoza attempted to correct this disparity by positing that God is as corporeal as he is mental. However, that would seem to leave him as a Monist, except that he now has to explain how there must fundamentally exist both one principle, i. e. God, and, yet, a multiplicity of 'Modes'. This problem with Spinoza's Monism is typical of most other ones--they posit a single fundamental principle, e. g. God, the One, Being, Nothingness, etc., and, yet, cannot seem to do without a subsidiary principle, e. g. Creation, the Many, Becoming, illusory individuality, etc. Conversely, Dualists tend, like Descartes, to accord priority to one of their two principles. So, despite the apparent conflict between Monism and Dualism, for the most part, philosophers of either persuasion concur that Reality consists of one fundamental principle, and at least one subsidiary principle, for which the term 'Ordinalism' might be an accurate description, except that it is already in use for different purposes.