Dialectic in the Hands of a Handwerker: Joseph Dietzgen and the Humble Beginnings of Dialectical Materialism

Engels once remarked to Marx that the “materialist dialectic, which for years has been our best working tool and our sharpest weapon, was, remarkably enough, discovered not only by us but also, independently of us and even of Hegel, by a German worker, Joseph Dietzgen.” The status of the dialectic, however, within what ought to instead be described as Dietzgen's inductive empiricism, is problematic. Dietzgen's work stands as a hitherto unacknowledged precursor to the Marxist ideology of Diamat. The first question is whether or not Marx's materialism ought to be conflated with Dietzgen's empiricism. Second, Dietzgen's efforts to establish a theory of human thought structured through the methods of the natural sciences requires critical evaluation. Although Dietzgen's works may anticipate some of the theoretical contours of Diamat, equating materialism with empiricism and rendering the dialectical method into a universal methodology on a par with the methods of the natural sciences, as pursued by Dietzgen, is a project that is perhaps not worthy of Marx's and Engels’ nominal veneration.

Althusser’s Dream: The Materialist Dialectic of Rationalist Empiricism

Chapter 2 offers a detailed elaboration of Louis Althusser’s brief reference to “rationalist empiricism,” deploying this elaboration toward a reading of Meillassoux’s After Finitude as a work of “Marxist philosophy.” Althusser considers the defense of philosophical materialism as integral to the critique of idealist ideology, and therefore as essential to defending historical materialism (Marxist science) against ideological deviations. I flesh out this framework by comparing After Finitude to Lenin’s Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, arguing that Meillassoux fulfils more rigorously the project of Lenin’s early philosophical intervention.

The Materialist Dialectic in Boris Hessen’s Newton Papers (1927 and 1931)

Boris Hessen’s ‘The Social and Economic Roots of Newton’s Principia’ (see https://doi.org./10.1163/1569206X-00002041) is considered a pioneering work in the historiography of the natural sciences. For some, it marks the founding moment of the ‘externalist’ approach to this field of study. Previously, Hessen published another paper on Newton entitled ‘Preface to Articles by A. Einstein and J.J. Thomson’, which, some maintain, bears a stronger resemblance to works in the ‘internalist’ camp of the historiography of the natural sciences. For decades, scholars have puzzled over why Hessen chose to argue for, seemingly, diametrically opposed positions. In this paper, however, I argue that Hessen does not advance two different historiographical methods, but a single, dialectical-materialist approach that accounts for the ‘unity in opposition’ of the external and internal dimensions of natural-scientific theory. I draw from Hessen’s two papers on Newton, his previously untranslated writings, as well as selections from the secondary literature.

An Overview of the Study of the Materialist Dialectics of Late Engels and the Marxist Dialectical Debate

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great proletarian revolutionary mentor Engels, and the theoretical community has once again started a wave of research on his thought. On the basis of Hegel's dialectic, Engels inherited and developed Marx's dialectic, and founded the materialist dialectic, which he called "the best tool and the sharpest weapon". However, the relationship between Engels' materialist dialectics and Marx's dialectics has been debated for more than a hundred years in the theoretical circles both at home and abroad, and it is of great significance to correctly summarize and elaborate the domestic and international views in order to clarify the internal logic and truth of Engels' materialist dialectics.

The Subject and the Real: Ethical Implications of A. Badiou’s Philosophy

Alain Badiou’s theory of ethics of the subject implies that the individual interpellation of the symbolic plane could be secondary to the truth process, which grounds the formation of the subject. We arrive at the hypothesis that the subject of the interpellation is already a subject of truth when the symbolic interpellation process starts.In the paper, two contemporary ethical orientations are emphasized: democratic materialism, which comprises the idealism created by market laws, and a materialist dialectic, which opens the possibility of the subject’s formation during the struggles. However, Badiou’s attempts to create an alternative symbolic plane – a historical plane – do not seem reassuring; therefore, one must look at the event-producing-history from the psychoanalytical perspective.The theory of drives opens the possibility to relate Badiou’s subject to the repressed real, to show him as immune to the desire, which may be derived from a symbolical plane, and able to ground his struggles with revolutionary jouissance while not allowing history to end too early.

As narrativas das crianças sobre as práticas educativas do Movimento de Mulheres Camponesas

Resumo: Com o presente artigo tem-se o intuito de divulgar, por meio das narrativas capturadas de depoimentos orais, a voz da criança camponesa, colocando em destaque suas representações em diálogo com as mães-militantes. A pergunta-problema que orientou a pesquisa foi: no âmbito do diálogo entre crianças e mulheres-mãe militantes, quais as representações sociais sobre o processo formativo e as práticas educativas construídas nas lutas do Movimento de Mulheres Camponesas? Na perspectiva epistemológica, tomamos como referência algumas reflexões sobre as leis e categorias da dialética materialista da história em articulação com alguns aportes do pensamento freireano. Inspiramo-nos na abordagem teórico-metodológica do Círculo Epistemológico de Cultura (CEC), realizado concomitantemente com os encontros de mulheres. Em termos de conclusões provisórias, foi possível perceber nas narrativas que as crianças conhecem os meandros político-pedagógicos das práticas educativas e desejam participar de um projeto popular igualitário em um ambiente político-social de militância.Palavras-chave: Movimento de Mulheres Camponesas. Crianças camponesas. Práticas educativas. Narratives of children about the educational practices in the Farming Womem Movement Abstract: This paper aims to provide a voice through the narratives with oral testimonies of the peasant children by highlighting one’s representations in dialogues with the militant mothers. The problem question that guided the research was: in the dialogue context between children, women and militant mothers, what social representations about the formative process and educational practices were built during the fights for the movement? By the epistemological perspective some references were taken into consideration such as the laws and materialist dialectic categories of history in conjunction with some contributions about the Freirean thoughts. The research was inspired by the theoretical methodological approach of the Epistemological Circle of Culture (CEC) which was carried out simultaneously with women meetings. In terms of provisional findings it was possible to observe through the narratives that the people involved know the political pedagogical meanders of educational practices and also wish to participate in an egalitarian popular project into a politico social militancy.Keywords: Movement of Farming Women. Peasant children. Educational practices.Las narrativas de lo niños acerca de las prácticas educativas del Movimiento de las Mujeres Campesinas Resumen: El presente artículo tiene como objeto divulgar a través de los relatos con declaraciones orales de los niños campesinos pondo atención en sus representaciones en diálogo con las madres-militantes. La pregunta-problema que orientó la pesquisa fue: ¿En el ámbito de lo diálogo entre niños y mujeres-madres militantes, cuáles las representaciones sociales sobre el proceso formativo y prácticas construidas en las luchas del movimiento? En la perspectiva epistemológica, adoptamos como referencia algunas reflexiones sobre las leyes y categorías de la dialéctica materialista de la historia en articulación con algunos insumos del pensamiento “freireano”. Nos inspiramos en el enfoque teórico-metodológico del Círculo Epistemológico de la Cultura (CEC), realizamos simultáneamente con los encuentros de la mujeres. Lo que se refiere a las conclusiones provisionales, fue posible percibir en las narrativas que ellos conocen los meandros políticos-pedagógicos de las prácticas educativas y desean participar de un proyecto popular igualitario en un ambiente político-social de militancia.Palabras clave: Movimiento de las Mujeres Campesinas. Niños campesinos. Prácticas educativas.