Dialectical Materialism and Contradiction

Greetings All, Here is another little (poorly organized) snippet of some of the notes that I have taken in my journey in the study of Materialist Dialectics, this time, regarding general properties and characteristics of dialectical Contradictions. Again, this is dedicated to my comrades and fellow students in the struggle(s), not meant to be a 101 (although this may eventually come, further down the line)

(shout out to Baike Baidu for helping educate me on our Chinese comrades' Marxist Leninist perspective on Contradictions in Materialist Dialectics, with large parts originating directly from Mao Zedong Thought, I am sure)

As stated previously, the dialectical materialist definition of a contradiction is simply a particular kind of relationship in which the two sides are in opposition to each other, and are also simultaneously defined by, and unified by, this struggle of opposing forces; a temporary unity of mutually opposing forces Materialist Dialectics understands that all material processes and phenomena in the universe contain and are defined by, internal contradictions, as well as participate in, and are subject to being impacted by, external contradictions. Contradictions are also the source of motion and change in the material universe for all material systems and phenomena/ processes. That is, all things and processes are always changing all the time due to their in built contradictions which both define them, and stimulate the constant process of self-transformation/development/change that they are perpetually undergoing

Since contradictions are both ultimately the source of all motion/ change as well as of identity of all processes/ phenomena/ systems, they are of the utmost importance to study, be able to recognize, and be able intervene in, negate, and harness/ leverage for the greater good of all humanity and our collective relationship to the overall material world that we are embedded in (scientific socialism) Materialist Dialectics is the study of contradictions, among other things In the Chinese ML understanding of Materialist Dialectics, we have what roughly translates to: 3 Pairs of Characteristics and 4 Major Theories of Contradictions

(yes, there are lots of lists in Marxist Leninist theory and thought) These break down to: *Identity and Struggle of Opposites *Universality and Particularity of Contradictions *The Imbalance of Contradictions (the dialectical roles of Primary and Secondary) ^these are the 3 Pairs of characteristics of Contradictions and, Identity and Struggle of Opposites *all contradictions are defined by a simultaneous pair of opposing forces/sides which are also unified in their opposition/struggle against each other; the unity of the opposing sides is also what mutually defines each side, and is the source of the identity of the larger system/ phenomena that the contradiction is currently animating/ primarily driving/embedded within; unity of opposites is temporary since all contradictions are temporary in particular, but opposing sides in general is permanent since the process of contradiction itself is ongoing/non ending Universality and Particularity of Contradictions *contradictions are everywhere, in all things/ phenomena/ ideas/ processes, that is, they are both an objective feature of our material universe (universal), as well as exist with plentiful diversity (particularity, all things and contradictions defining them, are unique in their own way, despite sharing traits in common with other particular things/ contradictions defining them); despite being present everywhere and in every thing, they are also not all the same and are all particular in their own way, even with shared features in common The Imbalance of Contradictions *in every system, there are always multiple contradictions, rarely ever just one. However, each contradiction is not equally important, at any given phase of development of a system/process, there is always one contradiction which is the one defining the phenomenon and driving the current development at its current phase. This is the Primary Contradiction, the others are Secondary Contradiction. Primary does not mean more important here, it does not even necessarily indicate which contradiction needs to be tackled first, in an ordinal manner of speaking; it only refers to the role of being the one contradiction amongst all others which is currently defining the system at its current phase of development. This role is fluid and can, and will, switch/ flip/ shift over time as the system undergoes change/ development inevitably As well as, *within every contradiction itself, there is also always one side of the two opposing forces which currently defines the contradiction itself and plays the decisive role in driving/determining the development of the contradiction, at this current phase of development of the contradiction and the relational pair comprising it. The relational participant currently defining the contradiction during this phase of its development is the Primary Aspect of said contradiction. The other is the Secondary Aspect. Again, like with Primary and Secondary Contradictions, which relational participant within the contradiction is which, can and will change over time as the contradiction undergoes development/change

^these are the 4 major theories of contradictions, which sort of are like both a re iteration of the 3 pairs of characteristics, but also at the same time a subset within them (the last pair, the primary/secondary characteristic of contradictions, containing 2 theories), but hey, I don’t know Mandarin and am not Chinese, so my admittedly western brain may not be grasping the organizational classification structure all that correctly. However, we press on:

So essentially, 1 contradictions are temporary unities of opposing forces (understand what contradictions literally are) 2 contradictions are everywhere but also infinitely diverse (understand where contradictions are/their positionality in the material world (they are everywhere and in every thing and drive every process that changes, which is all of them), and how to handle them (no one size fits all thinking here, every contradiction must be understood on its own terms, in its own historic particular development trajectory)), and 3 not all situated the same within the systems which they exist (there are primary and secondary contradictions in every thing, there is a primary and secondary aspect within each contradiction, at each particular moment in time/phase of development; not all contradictions equally define a thing that they exist within, both sides of a contradiction do not equally define the contradiction at any given point in time/phase of development of the pair of opposing sides)

I find this to be a pretty useful sum up of understanding the main properties and nature of Contradictions, especially as someone who first learnt about them from an adjacent, yet different Marxist intellectual tradition than that of the Chinese (Vietnamese Marxism Leninism)

The material fact is that change is materially eternal and present in all things To be conservative is to be against change To be progressive is to accept change To be revolutionary is to understand, and harness the laws of change, for all