Editing Manichaeism (section)

== Figurative use ==
The terms "Manichaean" and "Manichaeism" are sometimes used figuratively as a synonym of the more general term "[[Dualism in cosmology|dualist]]" with respect to a philosophy, outlook, or world-view.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |article=Manichaean – definition of ''Manichaean'' in English |dictionary=The Oxford Dictionaries |url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/Manichaean |title=Manichaean |access-date=31 July 2011 |archive-date=25 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925054455/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/Manichaean }}</ref> The terms are often used to suggest that the worldview in question simplistically reduces historical events to a struggle between good and evil. For example, [[Zbigniew Brzezinski]] used the phrase "Manichaean paranoia" in reference to U.S. president [[George W. Bush]]'s worldview (in ''[[The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]]'', 14 March 2007); Brzezinski elaborated that he meant "the notion that he [Bush] is leading the forces of good against the '[[Axis of evil]].{{' "}} Author and journalist [[Glenn Greenwald]] followed up on the theme in describing Bush in his book ''[[A Tragic Legacy]]'' (2007).

The term is frequently used by critics to describe the attitudes and foreign policies of the United States and its leaders.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kennedy |first=Douglas |date=2017-04-26 |title=Ode to a Philistine: Howard Jacobson's Pussy |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2017/04/ode-philistine-howard-jacobsons-pussy |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=[[New Statesman]] |archive-date=20 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020084018/https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2017/04/ode-philistine-howard-jacobsons-pussy |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Fred |last=Kaplan |date=21 October 2004 |title=Paul Nitze |website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/obit/2004/10/paul_nitze.html |access-date=20 October 2017 |archive-date=16 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016131409/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/obit/2004/10/paul_nitze.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Nick |last=Bryant |date=10 July 2015 |title=The decline of US power? |publisher=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33440287 |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-date=3 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180603090150/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33440287 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Philosopher [[Frantz Fanon]] frequently invoked the concept of Manicheanism in his discussions of violence between colonizers and the colonized.<ref>{{cite web |title=Frantz Fanon |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |editor1-first=James |editor1-last=Fieser |editor2-first=Bradley |editor2-last=Dowden |location=Martin, TN |publisher=[[University of Tennessee at Martin]] |url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/fanon/ |url-status=live |access-date=25 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815233029/http://www.iep.utm.edu/fanon/ |archive-date=15 August 2016}}</ref>

In ''[[My Secret History]]'', author [[Paul Theroux]]'s protagonist defines the word Manichaean for the protagonist's son as "seeing that good and evil are mingled." Before explaining the word to his son, the protagonist mentions [[Joseph Conrad|Joseph Conrad's]] short story "[[The Secret Sharer]]" at least twice in the book, the plot of which also examines the idea of the duality of good and evil.<ref>{{cite book |first=Paul |last=Theroux |date=1989 |title=My Secret History |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mysecrethistor00ther/page/471 471], 473 |publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons |location=New York |isbn=0-399-13424-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/mysecrethistor00ther |url-access=registration}}</ref>