Dialectical-Materialism

Dialectical materialism is a method of analysis and a way of viewing the world. Materialism posits that the material world is the basis of all existence*. That means that everything from stones and planets to societies consists entirely of material things, the relations between those things, and relations between the relations. This does not mean that the world is deterministic or like a machine, just that there isn’t anything «outside of the world»**. The material world came first, then the human brain and our thoughts evolved as a part of that world.

Dialectics states that everything which exists, is a unity (colloquially a “system”), for example all material things, relations, and processes. These unities consist of internal contradictions which define them and is the engine of their change – similarly to how the inside of the human body determines how the outside looks and what it can do. But in dialectics, it is the contradictions specifically which is the essential part of the inside of a unity. For example, life and death is a contradiction which creates the possibility for all phases of human life. Our thoughts reflect the contradictions the world is made up of: Life and death, health and disease, light and darkness, urban and rural.

Materialism is the opposite of idealism. Idealism is a philosophical way of thinking which states that reality is made up of ideas and concepts of the mind, and not through concrete matter and relations. Thinking that something is true just because you yourself think it is smart, without analyzing it properly, is therefore idealistic. Idealism often involves thinking that some things exist outside of the material world. Belief in souls, gods, ghosts, aliens from other dimensions, that the world is a simulation, or more philosophical concepts like Descartes’ evil demon, are all examples of idealist thought. To think materially, we begin by examining the world around us. Then we analyze our findings with dialectical materialism based on existing knowledge and theory. This is the only way to discover the real relations and the essence of that which we are investigating: (Dialectical) Materialist thought is thus the highest form of scientific thought.

Dialectics is the opposite of a static metaphysics. A static metaphysics assumes that things are based on «ideal forms» which never change. Examples are Plato’s thoughts about ideal forms, but also categorizing animals and plants into species, stones into minerals, or humans into groups based on ethnicity, sexuality, or religion. To be clear, static metaphysics can have utility. But it also states that aspects and traits don’t really change, and/or don’t really all depend on the relations between them. A static metaphysics can therefore not explain evolution, intersectionality, or the way human societies change throughout history. To explain these things dialectics are required, which specifically focuses on the relations between things and the way they change over time. Static metaphysics are therefore at best a good starting point for a dialectical analysis.

Dialectical materialism is the basis for Marxist theory

It was developed by Marx based on Hegel’s dialectics. Before Hegel dialectics existed in western philosophy in Spinoza and in ancient Greece, ex. In Socrates dialogues or in Heraclitus theory of nature. Dialectics have deep roots in other parts of the world as well. Hegel used dialectics to formulate a systemic understanding of the world based on the core idea that the divine acted through dialectical development. But Marx anchored Hegel’s dialectics in materialism, and used it to understand human society***, and to create a method to actually understand the relations of unities and change. Marx developed this method to understand history, society, and the economy scientifically, and through this make a science that can be used for proletarian revolution. This science is called scientific socialism, as opposed to utopian socialism, which is idealist.

The unity and struggle of opposites

A unity consists of its internal contradictions. The contradictions create an unity, the unity of the contradictions. The changes in the contradiction and thus the thing are results of the «struggle» of the opposites. For example, nature has given humans feminine and masculine traits in opposition to each other, which creates a «space» which creates the possibility of women, mean, non-binary people, transgender people, intersex people****, which through the relations of production and reproduction in society are transformed into social relations. The unity of the masculine and feminine from nature creates the possibilities for the human body, and society the possibilities for gender relations. Gender relations change throughout history, due to the «struggle» between the feminine and masculine. As an example, beauty standards or the work tasks associated with genders. Opposites or contradictions aren’t inherently negative, in dialectics they are just what make up reality and drives forth change. In some periods the «struggle» can be dominant, for example when workers use general strikes and revolutions in their contradiction with the interests of the bourgeoisie. In other periods «unity» can be dominant, for example when the bourgeoisie convince the workers to join a program of class collaboration, such as in so-called «social democracies». Some contradictions in specific situations are more oriented towards struggle (antagonistic), such as the contradiction between workers and capitalists. Others can be more oriented towards unity (harmonic), such as the relation between women and men can be in a communist society.

The inner contradictions of a unity determine which outer expressions the unity has and how it changes. In capitalist societies many external forces affect gender relations, but it is the inner contradictions which determine how gender relations can change.

Quantitative changes result in qualitative changes

Water temperature gradually increases before it starts boiling. A storage room gets more messy until it is impossible to find anything; it is now a garbage heap. The sick become the dying, the dying die. Contradictions can exist over longer time-span, and not substantially change their qualities, until they suddenly do. This happens because a change in quantity drives forth a change in quality. Quantitative doesn’t mean that it needs to literally be countable: The point is that the struggle of contradictions can result in completely new qualities (and thus also new contradictions between new unities).

Negation of the negation

The struggle of opposites cause them to form new unities. The new unities also consist of their internal contradictions, and can also change. Contradictions and unities can therefore have several «layers». You may have seen a gymnasium become an exam location; then you have also seen the old become something new. The gymnasium is the basis of the exam location, and the exam location carries with it aspects of the gymnasium. Some aspects are preserved, some are elevated into new aspects, and some disappear, all based on the possibilities of the past. A resolution of a contradiction results in preservation, withering (negation) and creation is called «sublation» (German: Aufhebung). Through countless sublations the worlds diversity grows forth, such as the wealth of organisms produced by evolution. First organisms did not have a sex. Then they evolved sexual reproduction. Animals developed variations in many body parts. And in advanced animals, especially humans, sex also has a social dimension.

The generic and the specific

Understanding a contradiction requires understanding its nature in general and in the specific situation investigated. The sexed traits of the human body produce many general possibilities for the relations between genders. But their specific form expressed in society depends on the specific society. Marxism gives us a general understanding of capitalism. But understanding capitalism in a specific country, also requires understanding capitalism’s specific expression in that society. To for example understand capitalism in a Scandinavian country, it is necessary to understand its general form, which it shares with other countries like the USA, and its specific form, which can have many differences. Therefore there are also differences between proletarian revolutions and proletarian states, even though they all have a basis in Marxism in general. The generally true is expressed in specific situations, and the specific situations contain a part of the generally true.

Essence and phenomenon

To understand something, we must understand both its phenomena and essence. The complexity of reality means that when we analyze something, we first meet its phenomena, which rest on the surface of the water. But to really understand, we can’t just settle for what we initially see, we must dive down into the deep and find the actual relations; we must delve into the contradictions and their development. It is impossible to understand the human body by only looking at its outside. Similarly, mainstream (bourgeois) economy settles for phenomena, like understanding what impacts price, and how capital, land, and labor influence profits. But only the Marxist economic theory explains the real contradictions which produce the economy, thus revealing the essence of the capitalist economic system.

Primary and secondary contradictions

Complex systems like the weather and climate, or capitalism, do not consist of two simple opposites, they consist of many contradictions. A unity can exist of several contradictions, and have different aspects and high complexity. These contradictions can also be related to each other and effect each other, making some systems very complex indeed.

But systems with many parts can also be understood by identifying their contradictions. Even though there are many, one of them will be the most impactful on the system itself, or in relation to the analysis conducted (such as political goals). This is the primary contradiction, and its «struggle» is the primary engine of change in a specific period. The other contradictions are called secondary contradictions, because they are relatively less important in the context. In all contradictions, there will in periods be an opposite which is more dominant and impactful: for example, the capitalist often has an advantageous position in relation to the workers. This is called the «aspect» of the contradiction. A contradiction can also consist of more than two opposites.

Theory and praxis

Praxis is attempting to change society based on what you know. Theory is analyzing previous attempts at changing society, and understanding what worked, what didn’t, and why. Because theory tries to understand the relations and development of society, it is always (or should be) based on dialectical materialism. The results of praxis is the basis of all theory. Theory is the basis for effective praxis. All socialist politics is produced by the contradiction between trying to figure out what to do based on limited experience (praxis) AND trying to be as effective as possible with limited knowledge (theory).

Using dialectical-materialism

First, read and gather information about the topic of investigation. Note down possible contradictions, understand relations and chains of causation, and understand the topic in general. Current and historical data should be examined. Then identify the relevant contradiction. Often times complex topics consist of several contradictions which produce aspects of the topic over time through their unity and struggle (negation of the negation). Do not force everything you know into a contradictory schema, knowledge can be useful even if it doesn’t fit into a contradiction. When you actually identify real contradictions, you will however gain a deeper understanding of the topics essence. Dialectical-materialism is a method for abstracting based on gathered data, that is, understanding the essence of a topic by first understanding its phenomena. Having identified contradiction, you must ask: What is true in general, and what is specific to my investigation? When you understand all this, you can understand how the struggle of contradictions can, but not must, drive change in the future, for example by a change of quantity into quality. Then you can also understand what you and your organization can do to achieve desirable results.

Recommended reading based on difficulty

• «Socialism: Utopian and Scientific», Engels

• «On Contradiction», Mao

• «On Practice», Mao

• «Where Do Correct Ideas Come From?» Mao

• «On The Correct Handling Of Contradictions Among The People», Mao

• «Ludwig Feuerbach and the end of classical German philosophy», Engels

• «The German Ideology», Marx (chapter 1)

• «Theses on Feuerbach», Marx

• «Anti-Dühring», Engels, primarily part 3, and a smaller section of part 1 about dialectics

• Capital Vol. I, Marx

• Religious people can use dialectical-materialism for analysis too, they just need to make sure to keep their own faith and religious convictions separate. In fact, atheists must also take care not to involve their pre-existing biases and convictions into analysis.

** Marx refers to determinism or «machinism» as vulgar materialism, in the sense that it reduces the complexity and possibilities of reality into a reductionist simplification; typically determinism claims that reality is an unavoidable and necessary chains of causes and effect, potentially with some randomness through quantum dynamics. Vulgar materialism would be to claim that humans are just «neurochemical processes», while a dialectical materialist view would be to say that humans are better described as a holistic process within the body and within a society. Marxism is based on humans as living subjects with the power to make choices and affect the world around them. By understanding the relations which define our lives in our time, we also become free to do what we can to change the relations. The «pure determinist» reduces away humans as subjects in a society, free within the bounds of knowledge of that society and it’s history, and reduces humans to a neurochemical thought experiment.

*** Called historical materialism when applied to history, or Marxism(-Leninism(-Maoism)) when applied to economy and politics.

**** The contradiction does also creates the possibility of being non-binary, trans, intersex, etc. Contradictions are not just their polar extremes or outer points, they define a «space» or a «room» within which things can exist, similarly to how 3D isn’t just three directions, 3D is also everything which can exist in three directions.