Both/and is an academic concept which refers to a form of reasoning which resists binary or either/or styles of thinking.[1][2]
Unlike dualistic styles of reasoning, both/and means that between two options, both can be valid, or that their opposition may present opportunities for dialectical synthesis, rather than a complete rejection of one of the premises in favor of the other.
Both/and is associated with dialectical thinking, which means investigating contradictions in order to attain higher understanding. However, it also appears in broader systems of thought, such as the concept of nondualism, in which the distinction between self and other is transcended.[3][4]
^Bell, Jeffrey A. (2006). Philosophy at the edge of chaos: Gilles Deleuze and the philosophy of difference. Toronto Studies in Philosophy. Toronto: University of Toronto press. ISBN978-0-8020-9409-4.
^Potter, Karl H.; Loy, David (1991). "Nonduality. A Study in Comparative Philosophy". Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 51 (3): 733. doi:10.2307/2107905. ISSN0031-8205. JSTOR2107905.
^Griebel, Oliver (2019). "Nonduality-Non/duality-Many-One Duality". Integral Review: A Transdisciplinary & Transcultural Journal for New Thought, Research, & Praxis. 15 (1).
^Smith, Wendy K.; Lewis, Marianne W. (2022). Both/and thinking: embracing creative tensions to solve your toughest problems. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Review Press. ISBN978-1-64782-104-3.
^Andermahr, Sonya (2018-09-15). "Both/And Aesthetics: Gender, Art, and Language in Brigid Brophy's In Transit and Ali Smith's How to Be Both". Contemporary Women's Writing. 12 (2): 248–263. doi:10.1093/cww/vpy001. ISSN1754-1476.
^Casile, Maureen; Hoover, Kristine F.; O'Neil, Deborah A. (2011-03-15). Millican, Juliet (ed.). "Both-and, not either-or: knowledge and service-learning". Education + Training. 53 (2/3): 129–139. doi:10.1108/00400911111115672. ISSN0040-0912.
^"The Secular Sacred: In between or both/and?", Social Identities Between the Sacred and the Secular, Routledge, pp. 163–178, 2016-04-01, doi:10.4324/9781315609454-20 (inactive 31 January 2024){{citation}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link)
^Probst, Barbara (2016-03-08). "Both/and: researcher as participant in qualitative inquiry". Qualitative Research Journal. 16 (2). doi:10.1108/qrj-06-2015-0038. ISSN1443-9883.