I’ve recently read about it, and it seems straight forward.
Materialism makes sense and things getting resolved through the resolution/interaction of contradiction/opposing forces too.
Though curious on how it is used as a tool to analyse and resolve problems.
Especially in the lives/localities of those who study/use it.
I don’t much about philosophy, so forgive if I made any wrong assumptions or if this question is weird.
Please do recommend any online sources that may help me there, in that case.
Also, would it be better to ask this in another sub, as this question maybe political?
Dialectical Materialism is more for analyzing problems correctly, not solving them outright. It’s useful for conflict analysis, such as Israel/Palestine. Israel is an Imperialist tool employed by the US to maintain pressure in the Middle East, which is why the US invests so heavily in it. In turn, there is a material basis for exceptionalism and nationalism among Israelis, along with a drive for more land via settler-colonialism. This results in a dehumanizing effort against Palestinians, resulting in genocide, and in turn conflict.
Solving this means undoing the Imperialism and going with a One-State solution, eliminating the base of the problems represented through the Superstructure.
Politzer’s Elementary Principles of Philosophy is a great intro to DiaMat.
Dialectical Materialism is more for analyzing problems correctly, not solving them outright.
I don’t take Mao literally in his saying, “when you have investigated the problem thoroughly, you will know how to solve it.” More accurately might be: until you have thoroughly investigated a problem, you’re not likely to find a solution.
Yep, that’s more what I’m getting at. Dialectical Materialism helps frame the variables at play, and might help show what variables can actually be tweaked, but makes no description of how to tweak.
Not what you asked, but if you want a deep dive into dialectical materialism, with comparisons to the predominant systems of thought, you might try Elementary principles of philosophy. It was written for a working class audience, but doesn’t underestimate their intelligence.
Thanks from me as well. I’m on a huge philosophy kick and did a dialectics dive on my last big socialist theory reading binge so this seems like a good way to bridge the gap a bit.
Thank you
If you want to go down the rabbit hole read Five Essays on Philosophy by Mao Zedong, Mao Zedong literature it’s better explaining dialectic materialism into everyday life than Russian authors in my humble POV.
