H. P. Grice's Dialectica Oxoniensis

H. P. Grice’s “Dialectica Oxoniensis.” dialectic (Hegel) Metaphysics, logic, philosophy of mind Hegel’s conception of dialectic was influenced by Kant’s antinomies and Fichte’s triadic process of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. Hegel claimed that contradictions are universally present and account for all change and movement in both thought and the world. Through dialectic, thought as understanding first holds a category as a concept that is finite and independent of other concepts; secondly, thought as negative reason recognizes that the initial concept depends for its meaning on being contrasted with its negation; and thirdly, thought as positive reason reaches a higher category, which embraces both earlier contradictory categories in a unity of opposites, but also contains a contradiction in itself. This tripartite structure of opposition and subsequent reconciliation keeps repeating until the complete system of concepts is reached. Hegel claimed that dialectic is not merely a process of thinking, but is a development conducted by concepts themselves and by the absolute idea. More important, dialectic also constitutes the autonomous self-development of the world. He claimed that a thing develops by changing into its opposite and then resolves the contradiction into a synthesis. The process continues until it arrives at complete perfection. This tripartite structure is also the architectonic structure of Hegel’s philosophy. Some philosophers seek to retain Hegel’s attempt to understand change and development in thought and the world, but reject the rigidity of his dialectical structure. “It is customary to treat Dialectic as an adventitious art, which for very wantonness introduces confusion and a mere semblance of contradiction into definite notions . . . But by Dialectic is meant the indwelling tendency outwards by which the one-sideness and limitation of the predicates of understanding is seen in its true light, and shown to be the negation of them.” Hegel, Logic dialectic (Kant), see canon, transcendental dialectic dialectical materialism Metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of social science The general name for Marxist philosophy, although it is sometimes distinguished from historical materialism in virtue of its focus on ontology and epistemology. Dialectical materialism provides the fundamental principles of Marxism, with historical materialism showing how these principles are worked out in society and history. Influenced by Hegel’s dialectic and Ludwig Feuerbauch’s materialism, it seeks to provide an organic combination of dialectic and materialism. In opposition to idealism, it holds that matter is the primary being and that mind is subordinate. Matter can exist without mind, but mind cannot exist without matter. Senseexperience reveals the existence of an external and objective world. In contrast to mechanistic materialism, it holds that the material world is not static. Things are full of contradictions or opposites, which drive them into a continuous process of development. This development is progressive through recognizing and reconciling the inherent contradictions. The basic principles of development include the law of the transformation of quantity into quality, the law of the interpenetration of opposites, and the law of negation of the negation. Dialectic materialism is the basis of Marxist theories of social change and revolution and has formed an essential part of communist ideology. The theory was founded by Marx and expounded in detail by Engels in Anti-During (1879) and Ludwig Feuerbach and the Outcome of Classical German Philosophy (1888). It was further developed by Lenin in Materialism and Empiriocriticism (1909). Neither Marx nor Engels used the term “dialectical materialism” to refer to their materialism. Plekhanov first adopted the term to refer to the metaphysical framework of Marxism.