Dialectics is the Antidote
Dialectics is the Antidote
16 comments
-
-
How would you define dialectics?
-
Dialectics is a very old element of philosophy surrounding, at its simplest, the notion of two conflicting subjects resolving their contradictions into a higher, third subject. Thesis, antithesis, synthesis. Marxism uses Dialectics, specifically Materialist Dialectics, as the basic framework of analysis. The practical aspects come from insistence on the unity of opposites, such as bourgeois and proletarian, feudal lord and serf, but could just as easily be the seed negating itself into the tree, into the apple, into the seed of the next tree, not quite the same as the external conditions are never the same.
I wrote more about the subject here, though I really recommend Georges Politzer's Elementary Principles of Philosophy for a clear and straightforward introduction to Dialectical Materialism.
-
-
More like historical materialism, which builds on dialectical materialism.
16 comments
I'm a big fan of Georges Politzer's Elementary Principles of Philosophy for a clear and straightforward introduction to Dialectical Materialism. It isn't a short read, but it's clear and readable, even for those unfamilair with Marxism. I also wrote a mini-intro here, a few days ago.
I'm convinced that this is why Americans don't know
I'd say the reason Dialectical Materialism isn't as common is due to the unique class conditions of the US Empire as a decaying Settler-colonial Empire. This is gradually increasing class consciousness as the Empire decays, though, and along with it people turn more to theory and more readily grasp Marxism.
this is an excellent intro as well https://dashthered.medium.com/marxism-for-normal-people-dialectical-materialism-deb5034685a4
Thanks, I'll give it a read later!