Formulation of the claim
Theological dualities entrench intellectual oppositions that Arkoun rejects as an unacceptable logic.
Explanation
By dualities, Arkoun means those divisions that split the world and people into rigid opposing pairs, such as believer/disbeliever, Islam/ignorance, and light/darkness. He does not see these oppositions as merely innocent descriptions, but as intellectual formulations that reproduce division rather than interrogating it.
In this view, the problem is not difference itself, but turning it into a closed structure that imposes a final judgment on reality. Arkoun therefore calls for dismantling these dualities as a logic that limits our understanding of history, religion, and society.
Its place in the book’s argument
This atom belongs to Arkoun’s critique of theological language when it turns into an instrument of classification and closure rather than a means of understanding. It aligns with his broader thesis of deconstructing the systems that make thought captive to sharp oppositions and prevent us from viewing religious and historical phenomena as more complex than the binary of good and evil or belief and unbelief.
Limits of the claim
This atom does not mean that Arkoun rejects every distinction or every use of binary concepts; rather, he rejects their fixation as a final, closed logic. Nor should it be read as carrying more than its critique of a specific formulation within theological discourse.