Dialectical materialism in philosophy

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In this lesson from a TEACHER we will offer you a summary of dialectical materialism, a current that is born from the theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and that he would later develop Lenin. The members of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union would make of this movement, a philosophical system. Materialism defends that matter is the foundation of all reality, and is independent of consciousness or spirit, and the world can only be known to the extent that it is material. Thus, they will apply the Hegelian dialectic to nature, giving rise to dialectical materialism. Dialectical materialism constitutes the philosophical basis of the Marxist-Leninist communism or "Diamat”. If you want to know more, continue reading this article.

Dialectical materialism opposes to idealism (He considers that the principle of all reality is the spirit), and defends that the origin of ideas is physical, which means that the main thing is matter, and consciousness derives from it. Therefore, dialectical materialism relies on scientific and rational thought.

“The fundamental forms of all being are space and time, and a being conceived outside of time is as absurd as a being conceived outside of space would be ". Engels

Dialectical materialism is born from a synthesis starting from the critique of mechanical materialism by Ludwig Feuerbach and the Hegelian dialectic (idealistic). Marx and Engels, will formulate the 11 thesis on Feuerbach. The last one says the following:

“Philosophers have done nothing more than 'interpret' the world in various ways, but the point is to 'transform' it ”.

Later, Lenin develops the ideas of dialectical materialism entering into controversy with idealistic philosophers by stating that idealistic positivism goes beyond the dispute between idealism and materialism. To which Lenin replies:

“Materialism is recognizing "objects to themselves" or out of mind; ideas and sensations are copies or images of these objects. The opposite doctrine (idealism) asserts that objects do not exist "without the mind"; objects are "combinations of sensations" "

The term "dialectical materialism" was introduced by Georgi Plekhanov in the 19th century, who made a division between dialectical materialism and historical materialism, in his workThe Conception Monist of the Historia.

The developments of Marx and Engele from Marx's Theses on Feuerbach, constitute a non-dualistic view of the world that defends a dialectical relationship between matter and spirit, and the basis of it, is human activity.

With the inclusion of the terms dialectical materialism and historical materialism, it is about systematizing the theories of Marx and Engels, and this division was assumed by Lenin, mainly because he considered Plekhanov the "Father of Marxism", and later by Stalin, as well as the application of dialectical laws to nature, history and society.

Leon Trotsky, leader of the October Revolution, founder of the Red Army and leader of the Left Opposition, will affirm that there is a dialectic applicable to the natural sciences, the objective dialectic and another applicable to the activity of the human being and the consciousness of him, and together, they form a unit. It also says that the division between nature and consciousness implies a return to dualism. They are two sides of the same coin that mark an evolution in history.

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Lenin in his workMaterialism and ANDmyrocriticism define matter like this:

“MAtheria is a philosophical category that denotes objective reality, which is given to man through his sensations, and which is copied, photographed and reflected by our sensations, while there is regardless of these”.

The basis of dialectical materialism is relationship between matter and spirit, between reality and consciousness, a relationship in which the former prevails over the latter, the latter being derived from the development of matter.

Thus, the philosophical question focuses on the question of the essence, the nature of the world and how it is known.

“The development of science definitely destroys the idealistic belief that the world is based on the supernatural, in the spiritual... since only what is material is perceptible, knowable, nothing is known of the existence of Gods ".

Categories of dialectical materialism

Regarding the categories of dialectical materialism, the following stand out mainly:

• Essence and phenomenon
• Cause and effect
• Necessity and chance
• The historical and the logical
• Content and form
• Possibility and reality
• The singular, the universal and the particular
• The abstract and the concrete

Marx and Engels formulate the 3 laws of dialectics like this:

1. Law of unity and struggle of opposites

The need to fight opposites is precisely the contradictions between them. At one stage, another opposite happens, and both die to be finally overtaken by another. This is the dialectic. Thus, from a primitive communist regime, one passes to another slave owner, to become a feudal one, which was surpassed by capitalism, and this, in turn, will be surpassed by socialism, as the first expression of communism.

"Thus, the struggle of opposites is the contradictions existing in the object, precisely the character contradiction of opposing tendencies, which are mutually exclusive, necessarily provokes the struggle between they. The old for the new, what is born and what dies in objects, cannot but enter into contradiction."

2. Law of quantitative changes in qualitative

Throughout the history of mankind, there are a series of jumps. A quantitative change inevitably causes a qualitative change. From this it follows that the transition from capitalism to socialism and the end of class difference can be accomplished through a jump, a revolution, and not through small reforms.

“The essence of the dialectical law of the transition from quantitative to qualitative changes is that all objects and phenomena are inherently traits of quantity and quality. Quantity and quality are linked to each other, passing in the development process, the gradual and imperceptible quantitative changes to qualitative radical changes. This step is done in the form of a jump."

3. Law of negation of negation

History and nature follow the laws of dialectics. The old fades and the new prevailsBut one day it will be old, and it will be replaced anyway. A previous stage will be negated by the next, to be overcome both by a new one, and so on.

“The essence of the law of negation of negation in development is produced by denying the old for the new, the lower for the higher. Inasmuch as the new, by denying the old, preserves and develops its positive features, development acquires a progressive character. At the same time it runs in a spiral, repeating in the higher phases some aspects and features of the lower ones..”

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Marx. K, Engles. F. 1848. Communist Party Manifesto. Ed. Austral, 2019