I am quite surprised to find so many Western socialists and Marxists on RevLeft who are fundamentally opposed to the philosophy of dialectics, and some of them actually oppose it quite strongly with a fair bit of hostility. In China, dialectical philosophy is generally assumed to be a fundamental aspect of any kind of socialist ideology, and people like Mao Zedong have written a lot of material on dialectical philosophy. I am a strong believer in the philosophy of Dialectical Materialism in general, which I believe is an important ideological tool and weapon in terms of revolutionary strategy and tactics, as well as political, economical, social and cultural analysis in general. Historically dialectical philosophy also has a long and prominent lineage going back to the philosophers of ancient Greece, China and India. Indeed, I think Dialectical Materialism is central to Marxist philosophy in general. What is the PSL's view of dialectical philosophy in general, and how do you explain the prevalence of anti-dialectical views among many Western and especially American socialists and Marxists today?
Being a revolutionary Marxist party, we subscribe to Dialectical Materialism. It is even part of our "Fundamentals Of Marxism" section: http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2?pag...rticle&id=5126
Good article. Any explanation as to why so many American socialists and leftists are anti-dialectics?
For the same reason some American socialists don't defend Cuba or Korea -- they are anti-Marxist. The PSL considers dialectical materialism to be central to Marxism and understanding class developments.
I completely agree with your adherence to dialectical materialism. Of course, being a rationalist I'm also against mystical distortions of DM. But many anti-dialecticians in the West are simply totally ignorant when they say things like the philosophy in Engels' Dialectics of Nature is "mystical" and "un-scientific".
Good article. Any explanation as to why so many American socialists and leftists are anti-dialectics? because (officially) we live in the era of neo-liberal post-structuralism. the dialectical materialist methodology for historical analysis developed by Karl Marx is a variable of left hegelian 19th century structuralism. the post-modernist deconstruction people allegedly "demolished it" (along with the berlin wall) in the late 1980's and early 1990's. in recent years (this side of the anti-globalisation movement of 1999-2003) there has been a return to dialectical thinking on the left, this return to dialectics (and even base-superstructure thinking) is dubbed "neo-structuralism". hugo chavez made reference to neo-structuralism in a speech sometime back.
It should also be mentioned that IMO most western "socialist" follow historical dialects more than dialect materialism. Most leftist in the USA think that if we are not following to the tee what happened in 1917 then we are anti-marxist
