Abstract

This paper examines the theme of duality in Baudrillard’s thought. It explores his many references to Manichaeism, a dualist religion which emerged in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 3rd century and was closely related to both Christianity and Buddhism. Taking seriously Baudrillard’s claims that “the world is Manichaean; in it two orders are absolutely opposed” that “I wouldn’t have minded being Manichaean, heretical and Gnostic” and that “the dual form is indestructible”, this paper briefly distinguishes Baudrillard’s radical or “heretical” sense of duality from the simplistic and pejorative use of the term ‘dualism’ which refers to thinking based on ordered and hierarchical oppositions. The paper then examines one of Baudrillard’s major themes: the principle of Evil