What is Dialectics?

The goal of this leadoff is to give a basic outline of what dialectics is and what it is not, mainly

the laws of dialectics. I think a good place to start is by saying what dialectics is not. Dialectics is

not a logical formula that you can just plug something into and get an answer. It is also not two

things existing, and coming together. You see this a lot online with people saying dialectics is

just the negation of the negation. While negation of the negation is a law of dialectics, it is not

the only law of dialectics.

With that being said, I’m going to go into the foundation of dialectical philosophy and the laws

that are involved in the dialectical process.

Foundation of Dialectical Philosophy

Dialectical philosophy, put briefly, as the acceptance of motion as a philosophical concept. This

seems insignificant on the surface, but with further investigation we see how this is a very

profound statement that shakes the very foundations of traditional logic. Traditional logic, while

useful, is limiting. One of the best examples of how traditional logic is limiting is the Law of

Identity. The Law of Identity states that something is always identical to itself. On the surface,

this seems correct. But when this law is extrapolated onto much more complex forces, we see

that this quickly falls apart. a=a in certain circumstances, at a particular point in time, but a did

not always equal a, and if the value of a were to change while discovering said value, then the

equation would be incorrect. Also, this equation leaves out the entire process that led to a having

a certain value.

Motion as a concept, smashes these problems. Put simply, the philosophical concept of motion

only exists by accepting contradiction as a way of existence. This is because motion as a concept,
can only exist as a process. Something in the process of moving is simultaneously in one place

and another at the same time. This is contradictory. By accepting motion as a concept, we also

accept contradiction as a concept. This was Hegel’s view of dialectics. Marx and Engels agreed

with this view, the problem was, Hegel’s dialectic was confined to idealism or viewing the

material world as secondary to the consciousness of human beings. This led to several absurdities

in Hegel’s conclusions. Marx and Engels saw the value of dialectics though, and rather than

removing the dialectic entirely, they flipped it onto its head. Placing the material world as

primary, and the consciousness of humans as secondary. This leads nicely into the law of the

negation of the negation.

Negation of the Negation

The negation of the negation is the process of how development takes place. Marx and Engels do

this with Hegel’s philosophy. Rather than removing everything from Hegel’s philosophy they

take from it what is useful. The dialectical process. They leave behind the idealism that

prevented the dialectic from being realized. To realize the dialectical process, they grounded it in

material reality. To further develop this idea, let us take the process by which material reality had

been observed previously. Previously, the material world was analyzed via static categories, and

everything was forced into a box. Charles Darwin smashed this idea with his discoveries on

evolution. However, Darwin did so without the use of the dialectic. This led to his conclusions

lacking. This is where Marx and Engels pick up with materialist philosophy. They took the

discoveries made by material science and left behind the rigidity of categories used to analyze

and understand the material world. In this way, Marx and Engels have overcome science and

philosophy. The key word is overcome. Dialectical materialism does not eradicate philosophy or

science, instead it maintains schools of thought in a noticeably higher form. This is the process in
which all things develop. Things are not eradicated, rather they are developed into a higher form.

This is done by maintaining the things that worked previously and leaving behind the things that

did not.

Negation does not mean that two things cancel out to make something new. It also does not mean

that two things fuse together to make something new. It is the process by which something new

is created. This means that there is always something remaining from that old thing within the

higher level of existence for the new thing. If comrades want more examples of the negation of

the negation, I would be happy to give them in the discussion.

Quantity into Quality and Vice Versa

Another law that goes into the development of things is the law of quantity into quality and vice

versa. This law states that for long periods of time there are a multitude of small almost

nonexistent changes. These changes eventually lead to a point where there needs to be a

qualitative leap in the current conditions. The quantitative changes have built up so much

pressure that they have no choice but to explode. This explosion brings with it an explosion of

new developments.

A good example of this law in effect is looking at the development of philosophy and science.

Like the negation of the negation, quantity into quality is also viewing things as a process. There

is not a definite number of developments that must be made to create the qualitative shift. The

point is that this is the way that the process occurs. For hundreds of years, there were almost no

scientific or philosophical developments. This was during feudalism and there was not a rising

class that could dethrone the ruling class. This was until the bourgeoise began to accumulate

wealth and move grow in the cities. Over time, and almost unnocitably, the bourgeoise was
developing. A development here in philosophy such as Descartes’ Meditations, and a

development there in the sciences such as Copernicus discovering that Earth was not the center

of the universe. These developments were reflections of the larger forces underneath. That being,

the development of the bourgeoise. These developments began to slowly accumulate until

eventually they could not be held in anymore within the confines of the feudal system. There was

a material need to develop beyond the means of production of the day, and the bourgeoise in all

their might smashed through the feudal system in a revolutionary surge. This led to a massive

development in the sciences and in philosophy. This revolutionary explosion did not do away

with all of the feudal conditions though. As we see with the negation of the negation, there were

elements of the previous society that exist at a much higher level under capitalism. And, as all

things do, this once revolutionary force has become a restricting force upon the development of

the new emerging class. The proletariat. The proletariat, like the bourgeoise before it, has been

developing to prepare to develop the productive forces farther via a revolutionary upsurge.

Before we can understand how to have a revolution though, we must first understand how

capitalism functions dialectically. This is done via the Unity of Opposites.

Unity of Opposites

The final law to understand dialectics is the unity of opposites. The unity of opposites states that

two things that are opposed to the existence of the other thing is not only part of that existence,

but is necessary to it. This is another instance of contradiction not being something to be avoided

as traditional logic suggest, but it is something that should be looked at as a natural occurrence.

As dialecticians, we view contradiction as not just a part of the world but necessary to its

existence. Take the system of capitalism for instance, the working class’s sole goal within the

confines of capitalism is to increase the amount in wages they receive. Inversely, the capitalist’s
whole goal, within the confines of capitalism, is to increase profits via decreasing the wages of

the workers that produce commodities. These two forces are opposed in every way, yet without

one or the other, capitalism as a system would not and could not exist. This is how we understand

contradiction. It is the way of the world, and rather than forcing it to not exist by placing things

into rigid categories, we embrace it as part of our analysis.

Conclusion

The philosophy of motion, the negation of the negation, the unity of opposites, and quantity into

quality are not like a checklist. We do not look at various things in their existence and make sure

they fit our ideas. Its actually the opposite that is true. The material world exists this way and

Marx and Engels developed a scientific method to look at these things so that we can understand

them. Not in a mechanical way, but in an organic way that takes into its analysis the real material

conditions of the world around us. Dialectics is the philosophy of nature, of life, of every process

that happens on our Earth. If we are to use material analysis then we have to acknowledge the

presence of change and motion within all things. Notice how like the world around us that we

analyze, these laws taken in their isolation lead to a mechanical world view that does not offer a

way forward. Each laws serves as a part to the whole process of analyzing things using the

Marxist method. Dialectics gives us the tool to see the world as it truly is, and only through this

can we come to understand all things.

Without dialectics as a guide to action, we would be lost to the seeming chaos of revolution, and

the changing conditions of the class [Link] dialectics allows us as people to do is take all

the benefits of all of humanity’s development and move beyond the rigidness of that logic. It is

the doorway to a higher level of consciousness that is only beginning to be realized under

capitalism. This is what we are fighting for comrades. The expansion and freedom of
consciousness. As we continue our series of leadoffs on dialectics, it will become clearer the

importance of dialectical philosophy in revolutionary situations.