dichotomies

(noun)

Two elements, often mutually exclusive, that stand in juxtaposition to one another.

Related Terms

  • tacit

Examples of dichotomies in the following topics:

  • The Sacred and the Profane

    • Emile Durkheim posited the sacred–profane dichotomy as central to all religion, but critics suggest this theory is too eurocentric.
    • The sacred–profane dichotomy is an idea posited by French sociologist Émile Durkheim, who considered it to be the central characteristic of religion: "religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden."
    • Durkheim explicitly stated that the sacred/profane dichotomy was not equivalent to good/evil.
    • Durkheim's claim of the universality of this dichotomy for all religions/cults has been criticized by scholars such as British anthropologist Jack Goody.
  • Discussion questions and references

    • Burnett, "The Macromarketing/Micro marketing Dichotomy: A Taxonomical Model," Journal of Marketing, Summer. 1982 pp. 11-26.
  • Series

    • An example is the famous series from Zeno's dichotomy and its mathematical representation:
  • Sexual Orientation

    • Alfred Kinsey was among the first to conceptualize sexuality as a continuum, rather than a strict dichotomy of gay or straight.
    • Alfred Kinsey was among the first to conceptualize sexuality as a continuum, rather than a strict dichotomy of gay or straight.
  • Services as Products

    • The dichotomy between physical goods and intangible services should not be given too much credence.
  • Cognitive Biases as a Barrier to Decision Making

    • By categorizing individuals in terms of four dichotomies—thinking and feeling, extroversion and introversion, judging and perception, and sensing and intuition—the MBTI provides a map of the individual's orientation toward decision making.
  • Motivation

    • Escape-seeking dichotomy model: Escapism and seeking are major factors influencing decision making.
  • Lie a Little Lie - Or Not

    • Some business decisions present straightforward dichotomies like these.
  • The Myers-Briggs Personality Types

    • The MBTI sorts psychological differences into four opposite pairs, or dichotomies, resulting in 16 possible psychological personality types.
  • Describing Consciousness

    • The historical materialism of Karl Marx rejects the mind-body dichotomy, and holds that consciousness is engendered by the material contingencies of one's environment.
Subjects
  • Accounting
  • Algebra
  • Art History
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Calculus
  • Chemistry
  • Communications
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Microbiology
  • Physics
  • Physiology
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Statistics
  • U.S. History
  • World History
  • Writing

Except where noted, content and user contributions on this site are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 with attribution required.