Materialism is a belief in matter, whereas dualism is not its opposite and "vs" has no relevance or meaing because materialism cannot vs dualism. Those who are deprived of the spiritual insights undersand dualism in a lower pedestal than the meaning it has or indicates. Dualism is a state of being or existence in two seemingly opposite entities. Dvaita (dualistic) as clearly defined in Sankhya Philosophy as opposed to Advaita (non-dualistic) monism as clearly defined by Adi Shri Shankaracharya. Though Plato did believe in Dualism and reached a stage of defining the fifth element Ether but he could not grasp the spiritual essense of it completely due to lack of spiritual progress in life. That pertains to matter is materialism. That pertains to Spirit is spiritualism. Spirit and matter are dual states of existence, like night and day, black and white, good and evil and all such seemingly opposites. But, the fact remains that the seemingly opposites cannot exist in isolation from the source and remains within or connected to the source and therefore everything in the world is one unit of undifferentiated Brahman or Sat Chit Ananda (Truth(Existance), Consciousness and Bliss). If the cosmos is a one Monistic Unit of Undifferentiated Brahman, due to the illusion of the senses, the undifferentiated brahman is seen by human beings as differentiated and having separate entitties. Here the division begins, the pattern of two is dualism, then the pattern of three, the pattern of four and the pattern of five and thus to innifitnite cells in a body and to eternal infinites it gets differentiated. The Universal or cosmic law is that which has differentiated has to undifferentiate and therefore all those has differentiated goes back undifferentiated in a cycle of births and deaths and birth and moksha, nirvana or salvation as the differentiated particle of the undifferentiated brahman joins back to the source.

Materialism and Spiritualism is one dualistic way of existence. Those who believe in materialism and those who believe in spiritualism. But unfortunately there is no separate existence there because one who believe in materialism has a separate existence not believing in spiritualism, until he starts believing in spiritualism where as one who believes in spiritualism understands both the philosophies of spiritualism and materialism equally well and knows the purpose of life and as a choice goes for spiritualism and moksha than materialism and sufferings in the cycle of births and deaths within this planet earth. The first principle in dualism is the male female or positive negative principles which is creative. The Purusha and the Prakrithi, the seed and the nature, the male and the female in the differentiated entities. Creation is not possible without this first principles of dualistic existence. These are principles of gross element Earth. Because the spirit or the soul do not have male and female identity just as gonad do not a have a male female identity, and just as the breast and the nipples are given for both male and female to turn either this way or that way. The Souls are neutral where as the body is female and male. The body is gross element earth. Conjugation of these two principles are cause for life and continuity. Life as well as death contribute to continuity. Life and deaths are thus one of the fudamentals of dualism or dual state of existence. Within life is death and within death is life, so dualism and monism are within one another, which bringsforth the theory of Parabrahma. The Paramatma and the Jeevatma. The seemingly separate two but inextricably one and the same. All etheists are trodding the path of materialism. All of them without their knowledge are leading a life within the dualistic world of existence. Their focus, glued to materialism, make them blind folded and not able to realise the very spirit in them which keep them alive. They argue what they see with their imperfect senses are the sum total of life. They go one changing their perceptions as their knowledge increases. Knowledge is not wisdom, knowledge is linear accumulated empirical sum total of experiences in this world. Wisdom is the vision to visualise the spirit and understand the spirit and us are one and the same thing and I am different from my body, though I am within the body and the body is within me as long as I live within this body and every particle of this body. So dualism is a stage or state or level or plane in the process of differentiation from monism to eternity and from in the undifferentiating process from eternity to monism. The duality or dualistic existence is binding on all differentiated Brahman which has reached the state of fiftth element i.e. gross element Earth or in other words having a body, a mass, a space which visibly exists and is feelable, hearable, tastable and the like. Materialism is a belief in the matter only and nothing beyond which is sheer ignorance and spiritual sterility. All religions are meant to urge human consciousness to move towards from materialism to spiritualism in accordance with the cosmic designs of the undifferentiated source. All religious people are various levels of understandings in spiritual path, susceptible to fall back to materialism, moving towards spiritualism or moving towards animalism or lower consciousness according to their actions or Karma (Karma includes thought, speech and action). Accordingly, you may find a pious person, an enlightened person, a saint, a prophet, an incarnation, as well as a dacoit, a terrorist, a thief, a lier, a burglar, or any kind of evil persons in a religious cavity. They are all at various levels of spiritual emancipations. Those who are at the lowest level are at the mundane or ground level, their visions are shorter, their visibility is short, their perceptions are changeable and not eternal, their understanding is materialism, they love material things, they love to stay in this world, where as a true spiritualist has vision, mystic experiences, feels the presence of the undifferentiated source and love to and long to reach the source. They are pious, god fearing and saintly. They are followed, and when they are followed, another religion is born. Each individual should be a religion in himself and that is the ideal vision of the Cosmic Source, call it God, call it by any name, call it Undifferentiated Brahman, Call it Existence Consciousness Bliss, Call it Truth, Call it Love, Call it Spirit, call it Black Hole, call what ever you like, the Cosmic Consciousness will respond if you call being one with it because the connection, the silver lining is always there, if only one knows how to connect, which are the fundamental motives of most of those teachers to teach in the past to tell their fellow mortals the True Path. Unfortunately instead of progressing on the path we always stand and watch the path staying at the same place in spiritual emancipation eternally.