- 05 Mar 2009 10:28
#1823792
By FallenRaptor
This article will be a first in a series describing different theoretical aspects of Marxism. Hopefully these will shed light for those who aren't familiar with Marxist theory, especially its critics.
In order to fully understand Marxism, we must first understand it's scientific method: Dialectical Materialism. Dialectical materialism is a world outlook developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels which organically combines dialectical logic and philosophical materialism.
What are dialectics?
Dialectics is a form of logic that has it's roots in ancient Greek and Asiatic societies, and was later developed by the German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel. In The Dialectics of Nature, Engels described three basic laws of dialectics from Hegel's works:
1) The Law of Contradiction
Or the law of 'the interpenetration of opposites'. This law is the most important principle of dialectics. It contends that everything has an opposite(or something in opposition in some way or form) and when these opposites unite or conflict with each other they create something new. The famous Hegelian triad, thesis - antithesis = synthesis, describes this law well.
2) The Law of Change
Or the law of 'the transformation of quantity into quality and vice versa'. It holds that all qualitative changes result from qunatitative changes in matter or forms of motion. For example, when more heat is applied to water in it's liquid form, it gradually becomes vapor. However, if we take away heat from the same water, it becomes ice.
3) The Law of Development
Or more famously known as 'the negation of the negation'. This law contends that all development consists of a series of contradictions. Because of this, development organically progresses in a 3D spiral which doesn't return to it's original position instead of a 2D cycle. Darwin's theory of evolution can be seen as an example of the negation of the negation.
So where do Hegel and Marx differ?
Hegel was a philosophical idealist. Marx, however, was not. He claimed to have taken the 'rational kernel' of dialectics from the 'mystical shell' of Hegelianism and developed it, turning his dialectic into the opposite of Hegel's: a dialectic not based on the ideas of man but on the material conditions of the world man lives in and it's forms of motions. According to this view, ideas are not the basis of the world, but are byproducts of it. It is thus the organic unity of dialectics and materialism through which Marxists view the world, and it is what gives Marxism it's scientific character.
Comments...
This article will be a first in a series describing different theoretical aspects of Marxism. Hopefully these will shed light for those who aren't familiar with Marxist theory, especially its critics.
In order to fully understand Marxism, we must first understand it's scientific method: Dialectical Materialism. Dialectical materialism is a world outlook developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels which organically combines dialectical logic and philosophical materialism.
What are dialectics?
Dialectics is a form of logic that has it's roots in ancient Greek and Asiatic societies, and was later developed by the German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel. In The Dialectics of Nature, Engels described three basic laws of dialectics from Hegel's works:
1) The Law of Contradiction
Or the law of 'the interpenetration of opposites'. This law is the most important principle of dialectics. It contends that everything has an opposite(or something in opposition in some way or form) and when these opposites unite or conflict with each other they create something new. The famous Hegelian triad, thesis - antithesis = synthesis, describes this law well.
2) The Law of Change
Or the law of 'the transformation of quantity into quality and vice versa'. It holds that all qualitative changes result from qunatitative changes in matter or forms of motion. For example, when more heat is applied to water in it's liquid form, it gradually becomes vapor. However, if we take away heat from the same water, it becomes ice.
3) The Law of Development
Or more famously known as 'the negation of the negation'. This law contends that all development consists of a series of contradictions. Because of this, development organically progresses in a 3D spiral which doesn't return to it's original position instead of a 2D cycle. Darwin's theory of evolution can be seen as an example of the negation of the negation.
So where do Hegel and Marx differ?
Hegel was a philosophical idealist. Marx, however, was not. He claimed to have taken the 'rational kernel' of dialectics from the 'mystical shell' of Hegelianism and developed it, turning his dialectic into the opposite of Hegel's: a dialectic not based on the ideas of man but on the material conditions of the world man lives in and it's forms of motions. According to this view, ideas are not the basis of the world, but are byproducts of it. It is thus the organic unity of dialectics and materialism through which Marxists view the world, and it is what gives Marxism it's scientific character.
Comments...
I can't believe you just linked me to that! 
- By Tainari88
- By litwin