The concept of dialectics came to us from Greeklanguage, where this word denotes the ability to argue and debate, raised to the rank of art. At present, dialectics denote such an aspect of philosophy, which deals with development, by various aspects of this phenomenon.
Initially, there was a dialectic in the formdiscussions of Socrates and Plato. These dialogues have become so popular among the masses that the very phenomenon of communication with the aim of convincing the interlocutor has become a philosophical method. The forms of thought within the framework of dialectics in different epochs corresponded to their time. Philosophy as a whole, dialectics in particular, does not stand still — that which was formed back in ancient times is still developing, and this process is subordinated to the features and realities of our daily life.
Principles of dialectics as a materialistic scienceconsist in determining the patterns by which phenomena and objects develop. The main function of such a philosophical scientific direction is methodological, necessary for understanding the world within the framework of philosophy and science as a whole. The key principle should be called monism, that is, the declaration of the world, objects, phenomena having a single materialistic basis. Such an approach considers matter as something eternal, imperishable, primary, but spirituality is set aside. No less significant principle is the unity of being. Dialectics assumes that through thinking a person can learn about the world, display the properties of the environment. These principles currently represent the foundation not only of dialectics, but also of the whole materialistic philosophy.
Dialectics calls for consideration of universalcommunication, recognizes the development of world phenomena in general. To understand the essence of the general connection of society, mental features, nature, it is necessary to examine each of the constituent parts of the phenomenon separately. This is the main difference of the principles of dialectics from the metaphysical approach, for which the world is a set of phenomena unrelated to each other.
General development reflects the essence of the movement of matter,self-development, the formation of a new one. As applied to the process of cognition, such a principle declares that phenomena, objects must be studied objectively, in movement and independent movement, in development, and self-development. The philosopher must analyze what are the internal contradictions of the object under study, how they develop. This allows you to determine what are the sources of development, movement.
The dialectic of development recognizes that all the studiedobjects are based on opposites, based on the principle of contradiction, unity, the transition from quantity to quality. Already in antiquity, thinkers attracted by the idea of the cosmos represented the world as a kind of calm whole, within which the processes of formation, change and development are continuous. Cosmos seemed both changeable and calm. At the universal level, variability is well visualized by the passage of water into the air, earth into water, and fire into the ether. In this form, the dialectic was formulated already in Heraclitus, who argued that the world as a whole was calm, but filled with contradictions.
Important postulates of dialectics, the main ideas of thisa section of philosophy was soon put forward by Zeno of Elea, who suggested speaking of the contradictory nature of the movement, the opposition of forms of being. At that moment, the practice arose of contrasting thoughts and feelings, plurality, unity. The development of this idea is observed in the atomic research, of which Lucretius and Epicurus deserve special attention. They considered the appearance of an object from an atom as a kind of leap, and each object was an owner of a certain quality not characteristic of the atom.
Heraclitus, the Eleatic laid the foundation forfurther development of dialectics. It was on the basis of their fabrications that the dialectic of sophists was formed. Having gone from natural philosophy, they analyzed the phenomenon of human thought, searched for knowledge, using the method of discussion for this. However, over time, the adherents of such a school hypertrophied the original idea, which became the basis for the formation of relativism and skepticism. However, from the point of view of the history of science, this period was only a short-term interval, an additional branch. The basic dialectic, considering positive knowledge, developed by Socrates and his followers. Socrates, studying the contradictions of life, urged to look for positive aspects from the thought peculiar to man. He set himself the task of comprehending contradictions in such a way as to discover the absolute truth. Euristic, controversy, answers, questions, colloquial theory — all this was introduced by Socrates and subjugated to itself the ancient philosophy as a whole.
The ideas of Socrates actively developed by Plato.It was he, delving into the essence of concepts, ideas, proposed to rank them with reality, some of its special, unique form. Plato called to perceive the dialectic not as a method of dividing the concept into separate aspects, not only the way of finding the truth through questions and answers. In his interpretation, science was the knowledge of reality - relative and true. In order to achieve success, as Plato called for, it is necessary to reduce contradictory aspects, making a whole of them. Continuing the promotion of this idea, Plato designed his works with dialogues, thanks to which, even now, we have the perfect examples of the dialectic of antiquity before our eyes. The dialectic of knowledge through the work of Plato is also available to modern researchers in an idealistic interpretation. The author has more than once considered movement, peace, being, equality, difference, interpreted being as being separate, contradicting itself, but coordinated. Any object is identical for itself, for other objects, too, is at rest relative to itself, in movement relative to other things.
The next stage in the development of the laws of dialectics is relatedwith the works of Aristotle. If Plato brought the theory to absolutism, then Aristotle connected it with the theory of ideological energy, potency, applied to specific real forms. This was the impetus for the further development of philosophical discipline, laid the foundation for awareness of the real cosmos around humanity. Aristotle formulated four reasons - formality, movement, purpose, matter; created a doctrine of them. Through his theories, Aristotle was able to express the union of all causes in each object, therefore in the end they become inseparable and identical with the thing. According to Aristotle, things capable of movement should be generalized in their individual forms, which is the basis of the self-movement of reality. This phenomenon was called the primary engine, independently thinking, simultaneously belonging to objects, subjects. The Thinker took into account the fluidity of forms, which made it possible to understand the dialectic not as absolute knowledge, but possible, to some extent probable.
The basic laws of dialectics determine development.The key is the pattern of the struggle of opposites, unity, as well as the transition from quality to quantity and back. It is necessary to mention the law of denial. Through all these laws, one can realize the source, the direction of the movement, the mechanism of development. It is accepted to call the dialectical core a law, declaring that opposites enter into a struggle among themselves, but at the same time they are one. It follows from the law that every phenomenon, object, is simultaneously filled from the inside with contradictions that interact, are one, but oppose. According to the understanding of dialectics, the opposite is such a form, a stage when there are exclusive, denying each other specific features, qualities, tendencies. Contradiction is a relationship of the parties in opposition, when one not only excludes the other, but is also a condition for its existence.
The formulated essence of the basic law of dialecticsobliges to analyze mutual relations by means of a formal logical methodology. It is necessary to prohibit contradictions, exclude the third. This became a definite problem for the dialectic at the moment when the contradictions investigated by science had to be brought in accordance with the epistemological approaches, that is, the doctrine considering the process of knowledge. The material dialectic came out of this situation by clarifying the logical, formal, and dialectical relations.
Contradictions that are the basis of lawsdialectics, due to the juxtaposition of statements, in the sense of its opposite to one another. In fact, they point to the fact that there is a certain problem, without delving into the details, but are a start for the research process. Dialectics in the specifics of contradictions includes the need to identify all intermediate links in the logical chain. This is possible when assessing the degree of development of the phenomenon, determining the mutual relations of internal and external contradictions. The task of the philosopher is to determine what type of concrete phenomenon is being investigated, whether it is possible to call it the main contradiction, that is, expressing the essence of the object, the main one or not. In dialectics, contradiction is bound by connections.
In short, dialectic in understandingour contemporaries is a rather radical method of thinking. Neo-Hegelianism, of which F. Bradley, one of the brightest representatives, calls for the separation of dialectics and formal logic, points to the impossibility of replacing one with another. Arguing their position, philosophers pay attention to the fact that the dialectic is the result of human limitations, reflects the possibility of thinking that is different from the logical, formal. At the same time, the dialectic is only a symbol, but not itself different in its structure and form of thinking, otherwise called divine.
A distinctive feature of our everyday life -abundance of contradictions, repetitions, denials. This encourages many to apply the method of dialectics to the cyclic processes observed by man in the surrounding space. But the laws of this area of philosophy are such that they significantly limit the scope of the phenomenon. Both reproduction and negation, as follows from dialectics, can be viewed strictly at the level of the opposite features of a particular subject. One can speak about development only in the case when the initial features opposing each other are known. However, the identification of those at the initial stage is a considerable problem, since logical aspects are dissolved in historical premises, returns, denials often only reflect the result of the external factor. Consequently, the similarity in such a situation is nothing more than external, superficial, and therefore does not allow the application of dialectic methods to the object.
The impressive development of the phenomenon, the theory thatit is a dialectic, it was connected with the works on which the followers of Stoicism worked. Especially important milestones - the works of Clean, Zeno, Chrysippus. It was through their efforts that the phenomenon deepened and expanded. The Stoics analyzed the categories of thought and language, which became a fundamentally new approach to the philosophical trend. The doctrine of the word created at that time was applicable to the surrounding reality, perceived by the logos from which the cosmos is born, whose element is man. The Stoics considered everything around them as a kind of unified system of bodies, so many people call them more materialists than any of the earlier figures.
How to formulate that this is a dialectic,Plotinus, Proclus, and other representatives of the school of Neo-Platonism thought more than once. Through the laws and ideas of this area of philosophy, they understood being, its peculiar hierarchical structure, as well as the essence of unity, combined with separate numbers. Primary numbers, their qualitative filling, the world of ideas, the transition between ideas, the emergence of phenomena, the formation of the cosmos, the soul of this world - all this in Neo-Platonism is explained through dialectical calculations. The views of representatives of this school in many ways reflected the predictions about the imminent death of the world that surrounded the ancient figures. This is evident from the mysticism that dominated the discourse of that era, systematics, scholasticism.
In the period of the Middle Ages, the dialectic isphilosophical section, strictly subordinate to religion and the idea of one god. In fact, science has become an aspect of theology, having lost its independence, and its main axis at that moment was the absolute of thinking promoted by scholasticism. Adherents of pantheism went in a somewhat different way, although their worldviews are also to some extent based on the calculations of dialectics. Pantheists equated God with nature, which made of the subject, who arranged the world and the universe, the principle of independent movement, inherent in everything around us. Particularly curious in this regard are the works of N. Kuzansky, who developed dialectical ideas as a theory of perpetual motion, pointing to the coincidence of the opposite, the minimum with the maximum. The unity of the opposite is an idea that the great scientist Bruno actively promoted.
Different areas of thinking during this period weresubordinate to metaphysics, dictated by her views. Nevertheless, the dialectic is an important aspect of the philosophy of the New time. This is seen, in particular, from the statements of Descartes, who advanced the theory that the space around us is heterogeneous. From Spinoza’s conclusions, it follows that nature itself is its own cause, which means that the dialectic becomes necessary for the realization of freedom: understandable, unconditional, irrevocable, non-amenable. Ideas, the appearance of which is conditioned by thinking, in fact reflect the connections of things, at the same time it is categorically unacceptable to regard matter as a certain inertia.
Considering the categories of dialectics, importantLeibniz concludes. It was he who became the author of the new teaching, which stated that matter is active, itself ensures its own movement, is a complex of substances, monads, reflecting different aspects of the world. Leibniz was the first to formulate a deep idea of dialectics, dedicated to time, space, and the unity of these phenomena. The scientist believed that space is the mutual existence of material objects, time is the order in which these objects follow one after the other. Leibniz became the author of a deep theory of continuous dialectics, which considered the close connections of what happened with what is observed at the moment.
Classical philosophy of Germany performed byKant is based on the concept of dialectics, perceived by him as the most universal method of awareness, cognition, theorizing of the surrounding space. Kant perceived the dialectic as a way of exposing the illusions inherent in the mind, conditioned by the striving for absolute knowledge. Kant spoke more than once about knowledge as a phenomenon based on the experience of feelings, justified by reason. The highest rational concepts, following Kant, do not possess such features. Consequently, the dialectic allows us to come to contradictions, which is simply impossible to avoid. This critical science has become the basis for the future, has allowed to perceive the mind as an element, which is characterized by contradictions, and can not be avoided. Such reflections gave rise to the search for methods to cope with contradictions. Already on the basis of critical dialectics, a positive one was formed.
As many theorists of ours confidently sayof time, it was Hegel who became the author of the teaching, which occupied the top of the dialectical picture. An idealist, Hegel was the first in our community to express through the process the spiritual, material, nature and history, formulating them as one and continuously moving, evolving and changing. Hegel attempted to formulate the internal relations of development, movement. As a dialectician, Hegel caused unlimited admiration of Mark, Engels, which follows from their many works.
Hegel's dialectic covers, analyzesreality in general, in all its aspects and phenomena, including logic, nature, spirit, history. Hegel formulated a meaningful, comprehensive picture in relation to the forms of movement, divided science into essence, being, concept, considered all phenomena in contradiction to itself, and also formulated categories of essence.
