Dialectical Materialism

Infinite Growth
Sep 6, 2018 · 2 min read

Dialectical materialism is the metaphysical underpinning of Marxism. It’s a way of understanding the world based on change and contradiction; the term “dialectic” in Greek is similar to dialogue or interactive questioning. It evokes a sense of conflict and tension, as well as a progressive inquiry into the truth.

Marx, who was a student of Hegel, drew upon Hegel’s dialectical method, which the truth is arrived at through the synthesis of opposing views. Marx disagreed with Hegel’s idealism, but kept the “rational kernel” of dialectics to formulate dialectical materialism. Materialism is the doctrine that the world exists objectively, independent of our thoughts or beliefs.

Dialectical materialism simply states that the world is in flux, and so objects don’t have fixed identities. A chair isn’t just a chair, it could become a thrown, or a collection of sticks, or a fire. Things change, and so don’t have a definite, unchanging identity.

Does this mean that we can’t say anything about reality? No, we can acknowledge that chairs exist, whilst also acknowledging that this doesn’t exhaust the potential of the chair. There are 3 laws of dialectical materialism:

1: The Unity and Conflict of Opposites

Nothing stays the same, everything changes. Why do things change? Because there is conflict. Objects collide, creating opposing forces which cause motion and the change of trajectories. At the same time, things change in and of themselves, because they contain the potential to become their opposites. Ignorance turns into knowledge, life turns into death etc.

To apply this law to society, we need to understand that society is characterized by class conflict. The relative power of the working class to the capitalist class influences the activities of each. Furthermore, societies change fundamentally as the mode of production changes: capitalism is prone to crisis and so has within itself the seeds of its own destruction.

2: Transformation of Quantity into Quality

Because of the unity and conflict of opposites, a small change in an amount can lead to a qualitative change. For example, if one object is slightly heavier than another, it can force the lighter object into a new direction. A small change in the amount of food someone eats could lead to starvation. Because there are opposing forces, a small change in force can lead to a change in balance, and there will come a tipping point when the order of things is re-ordered.

In society, small changes in class consciousness and the power of organisations builds up over time, eventually tipping over into revolution. So we should prepare for that revolution and work for it.

3: Negation of the Negation

Things never really reach an ultimate conclusion. The destruction of one state leads to the creation of a new one. Matter changes form continuously but persists in different forms, and so life grows out of death, the shedding of old ideas or practices leads to new ones, and the new normal is achieved.

This means that the system which replaces capitalism will itself have contradictions and these contradictions will also need to be addressed. But progress does occur as a result of contradictions of the previous system being resolved and absorbed.