This class will provide a basic overview of the principles of dialectical materialism. It is designed to provide a foundation for delving into and contributing to the philosophical concepts outlined in all of the Study Guide classes that follow.
Dialectical and historical materialism is the philosophical approach of revolutionaries to the study of the real world in constant change. Dialectical materialism is Marxist philosophy.
Dialectics is the study of how things develop and change. The principles of dialectics are:
- Nature is an integrated and connected whole. Phenomena are connected through causality.
- Nature is in a state of constant change: development, disintegration, dying away and arising.
- Internal contradiction, the basis of quantitative development, is inherent in all things.
- Changes are from lower to higher order and occur as negations.
- Qualitative changes occur by a quantitative extraction from the quality or by quantitative introduction of an antagonistic new quality. Qualitative changes occur as leaps.
- Quantitative developments are definite and indispensable.
Materialism is the philosophical principle that the world is real and knowable and that ideas come from interacting with the world (as opposed to philosophical "idealism," which says that the world is a product of some idea or ideal).
Historical materialism is the extension of the principles of dialectical materialism to the study of social life, the study of society and history. It shows that the method of securing the means of subsistence sets the foundation for the character of a social system.
The practical significance of the principles of dialectical and historical materialism is expressed in the law of causality. Behind the diversity of phenomena, there are definite and more or less stable connections, which are independent of human consciousness. The most fundamental and universal connection, observed everywhere and always, in all phenomena, is that every event has a cause, and every effect acts as a cause in some other connection, giving rise to new effects. The alternative to this view is that the world is a jumble of eclectic, disconnected and unscientific circumstances.
An understanding of causality allows revolutionaries to draw political conclusions about the true, deep-lying causes of phenomena and the effects that may occur. Causality means that the world is going somewhere. We only have to find out what is causing its motion. Then we can utilize that process to introduce the new ideas that can move the world forward. Ignorance of causality gives rise to unscientific explanations, making it impossible for revolutionaries to produce the effects they require.
Readings
The readings below may raise questions that go beyond the introductory scope of this class. If so, we ask that you try to focus your discussion of dialectical and historical materialism and the importance of causality on the questions below. Future classes will further the discussion and probing of the fundamental concepts of Marxist philosophy.
Discussion Questions
1. What are the key principles that describe dialectical development? Why does the dialectical method focus on that which is arising as opposed to that which seems durable and permanent? Why are new social forces invincible?
2. What is the basic principle of materialism? of historical materialism? Describe the terms: instruments of production, productive forces, relations of production, and mode of production. Describe the dialectical development of the struggle between the constantly developing productive forces and the static productive relations.
3. How does dialectical materialism differ from idealism? What is the source of social ideas? Why is dialectical materialism as a philosophical approach fundamental to social revolution?
4. Discuss the law of cause and effect. Trace the basic law of capitalism as the drive for maximum profits through the events leading up to the overthrow of the system as an example of cause and effect. Why is it important to understand the difference between the cause, conditions and occasion of a political event? Discuss the practical significance of causality for revolution.
