Dialectical Materialism Synthesis

This document is a synthesis of notes and reflections after reading chapter 1, part 1 of A Curriculum of the Basic Principles of Marxism-Leninism and Dialectical Materialism by Mao Zedong

Human knowledge can be separated into two aspects: reality and concept. Experience of the particulars of material reality shape and form general concepts, and from a dialectical viewpoint, general concepts, in turn, impact material reality, linking the particular with the general inseparably. This is the basis of materialism, which supposes that consciousness is subordinate to matter. Idealism separates the general from the particular and supposes that the particular is only the specific form in which the general exists, disregarding the fact that material reality exists independently from consciousness.

In societal development, the separation of manual and intellectual labor, and the subsequent existence of classes and their antagonistic interests, causes idealism to take precedence in philosophical thought. As the productive forces of society develop, the division between manual and intellectual labor increases, and sections of society begin to devote themselves entirely to the latter. Out of this, classes and private property emerge, allowing intellectual labor to become “the exclusive privilege of the ruling class” while manual labor is delegated exclusively to the oppressed classes. Serving the interests of this ruling class, idealist conceptions are formed, developed, exaggerated, and imposed onto the oppressed classes, arising from the former’s examination of their exploitative relationship with the latter. The forms of these idealist conceptions are numerous and wide ranging: “Idealism in economics exaggerates beyond measure a nonessential aspect of exchange,, raising the law of supply and demand to the status of the fundamental law of capitalism… Idealist historians regard heroes as the makers of history. Idealist politicians regard politics as omnipotent. Idealist military leaders practice the methods of desperate combat [p’ing-ming-chu-i-ti tso- chan]. Idealist revolutionaries advocate Blanquism. ” - Dialectical Materialism, Mao Zedong

The formation of metaphysical materialism marks an important milestone in the ideological fight against idealist worldviews. Strongly influenced by mechanical philosophy, which compares natural phenomena to mechanical devices and sees that all things were built as deterministic mechanical devices, metaphysical materialism views the world as a giant mechanical machine composed of essentially isolated, static, and separate parts. Metaphysical materialists perceive all change existing only as an increase or decrease in quantity brought out by external causes. In this worldview, thought, and thereby consciousness, is indeed a product of and is shaped by matter, but acts only as the “mirror that reflects nature” and does not impact matter whatsoever.

Dialectical materialism directly opposes this static mechanistic view in its theory of movement; that matter is perpetually in motion and that motion is matter’s form of existence. The existence, within matter, of contradictory aspects and their struggle against each other, is what gives matter its form of endless motion. It is through this movement of matter that higher forms of society are achieved, and why dialectical materialism is the basis for the worldview of the proletariat.

We need to identify and investigate the primary idealist conceptions in our society, their form and origins, and how they serve the bourgeoisie in perpetuating the oppression of the proletariat. This complete understanding of existing idealist ideologies will help us dispel them and reveal to the masses the truth of dialectical materialism, their “mental-arm” in the revolutionary struggle.