I. Basic concepts
Dialectical
Portrait of Hegel
There are three laws, namely, the law of unity of opposites, the law of mutual change of quality, and the law of negation of negation. These three laws were first expounded by Hegel in Logic, and Engels summarized and refined them from logic, thus making the law of dialectics more clear. As one of the three laws of dialectics, the process of negation of negation in the history of dialectics conforms to the essence of this law, which truly embodies the characteristics of "words and deeds are consistent, appearance is in harmony with spirit". In other words, in the history of philosophy, the law of negation of negation is characterized by negation of negation. Specifically, the whole development process has gone through the process of affirmation, negation and negation (affirmation), which is in line with the negative law of negation.
Second, the relationship between the three laws of dialectics.
How to understand the three laws of dialectics
The relationship between them is an important symbol to measure one's philosophical level, which directly reflects one's understanding and depth of dialectics. Why do you say that? Because the law of dialectics reveals all the relations of the essence of limit, and it is the most abstract.
Portrait of Engels
Products. Although the laws of dialectics are abstracted from the deduction of concepts, they are completely consistent with the essential movement of objective reality, so they are all objective laws with extreme truth.
As the ultimate truth
It is characterized by sheer absoluteness without any relativity. Of course, don't forget that this kind of pure absoluteness also has preconditions, which is the field of human cognition, or that the three laws of dialectics belong to the ultimate truth in epistemology and will not change the theoretical point of view.
In philosophy,
We know that essence is also divided into two different levels. The viewpoint directly summarized from the essential phenomenon belongs to the intellectual level, and the viewpoint indirectly reflected from the essence of the phenomenon belongs to the rational level. Intellectual level and rational level, this is the division that rises to essence. The intelligence level is characterized by intuition, which is in direct contact with phenomena and has identity. In reality, dialectics explained at the intellectual level is easy to understand because it has phenomena that can be perceived by people as examples to illustrate. The rational level is characterized by indirectness, and there is no direct connection between it and the phenomenon, but the two are opposite. Therefore, dialectics at the rational level is often not easy to understand. Because it needs to be realized indirectly through reflection.
Compared with rational dialectics, intellectual dialectics
Its characteristics are intuitive and popular. The characteristics of rational dialectics are indirectness and profundity. Intellectual dialectics belongs to the dialectics of the first essence, while rational dialectics belongs to the dialectics of the second essence. They are isomorphic to each other and become two internal relations of dialectics. If we use philosophical language to distinguish, then intellectual dialectics grasps the unity of opposites between different qualities, while rational dialectics grasps the unity of opposites within the same quality.
Different properties are reflected in the outside, for example, even numbers and odd numbers are integers with different properties, and they are the relationship of unity of opposites. The same quality goes inside. For example, the interior of odd numbers can be divided into two types: one is an odd number that can't be decomposed, which we call prime numbers, and the other is an odd number that can be decomposed into products of several prime factors, which we call product numbers, which is an odd number in mathematics. The unity of opposites between prime number and product number is a homogeneous internal contradiction grasped by rational dialectics. Obviously, the contradiction of rational grasp does not exist from the outside, and the forms of expression are all strange and there is no essential difference. But going deep into odd numbers, we find that there are contradictions in odd numbers, which show different forms of existence, thus forming the unity of opposites between prime numbers and product numbers. The above is one of the essential differences between intellectual dialectics and rational dialectics.
Another essential difference between intellectual dialectics and rational dialectics
In the form of discussing problems, intellectual dialectics lacks dialectical logic, and the usual analytical methods are external comparison and phenomenon description, while rational dialectics uses dialectical logic, and the usual analytical method is contradiction analysis, which runs through the principle of unity of logic and history.
Analysis from the perspective of epistemology.
The essential difference between intellectual dialectics and rational dialectics is also manifested in the depth of understanding. For the same contradiction, there are obvious differences in the depth of understanding between them. For example, the struggle between the * * * production party and the Kuomintang, intuitively grasping the unity of opposites between the two, is the viewpoint of intellectual dialectics. At this time, people get completely consistent conclusions and phenomena, which is the contradiction between the Kuomintang and the * * * production party. Grasping this contradiction from the essential height, people will get that this is the unity of opposites between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. At this time, people's understanding rose to a higher level, from direct to indirect, from primary essence to secondary essence. When people's understanding reaches the second level of essence, the viewpoint of rational dialectics is formed. It can be seen that the viewpoint of rational dialectics is indirect and can't be intuitively felt. Only through reflection can we grasp it by rising to the essential height. The viewpoint grasped by intellectual dialectics is directly related to objective existence and is the product of intuitive reflection.
In a word, the characteristic of intellectuality is intuition.
It keeps identity with the phenomenon directly, so it is easy to be understood and grasped by people. The characteristic of rationality is indirectness, and rationality and phenomenon are opposites, which cannot be directly grasped and can only be realized through reflection.
Usually, people are accustomed to stay in intuitive generalization and call the connection of common phenomena something regular. For example, metabolic phenomena are directly called metabolic laws. Because this phenomenon is universal, people often feel it in reality. Universality in philosophy is a feature of regularity itself. However, this intuitive generalization of universality is not the law of dialectics, but a reflection of the law of dialectics.
The law of dialectics is characterized by its universal applicability. The universal application here covers nature, human society and thinking, and it must be applied in all three fields before it can be called the law of dialectics.
Although the metabolic phenomenon is universal, its universality has not reached the height suitable for nature, human society and thinking. In the inanimate inorganic world, the law of metabolism does not exist. This fact shows that metabolism is only a manifestation of dialectical law, not the dialectical law itself.
In philosophy, there are only three dialectical laws to reach the limit of universality, namely, the law of unity of opposites, the law of quantitative change and qualitative change, and the law of negation of negation. Among them, the law of unity of opposites reveals the characteristics of objective existence. Everything is the unity of contradiction, and contradiction is the source and motive force of the development and change of things. The law of quantitative change and qualitative change reveals the characteristics of things in the form of development and change. From the perspective of quantitative change, qualitative change is the end of quantitative change. The law of negation of negation reveals the characteristics of the process of contradictory movement and tells people that contradictory movement is the expression of vitality, which is characterized by self-denial and transformation to the opposite. Therefore, the law of negation of negation constitutes the essence of dialectical movement.
From the cognitive perspective, among the three laws of dialectics, the law of quantitative change and qualitative change is at the outermost layer, and people can feel it intuitively because it is an objective law of unified change form. The second is the law of unity of opposites, which needs people to observe and analyze, because its understanding depth is from external unity to internal contradiction.
As we all know, the contradiction in reality is divided into two different forms: one is an intuitive contradiction phenomenon, in which both sides of the contradiction are at a perceptible level of understanding. One is the contradiction of the essence itself that must be grasped through reflection, and it is the contradiction that people can't directly perceive.
Third, the law of dialectics.
For the laws of dialectics
It mainly reveals the contradictory characteristics of essence itself, so it does not stay on the intuitive contradiction phenomenon, but rises to the internal contradiction of essence itself. This is the characteristic of philosophical law, which rises to the essential level to grasp the phenomenon connection of objective existence.
The law of unity of opposites is more profound than the law of quantitative change and qualitative change.
Relatively speaking, if the characteristics of the law of quantitative change and qualitative change are equivalent to intuition in cognition, then the characteristics of the law of unity of opposites are equivalent to directness in cognition, and the characteristics of the law of negation of negation are equivalent to indirectness in cognition. According to Kant's classification method, they are equivalent to sensibility, intellectuality and rationality in turn. Because the law of negation of negation has risen to a rational height, it is characterized by hiding in contradictions and revealing the essence of contradictory movement. Therefore, the law of negation of negation is difficult to understand and understand. Since Hegel put forward this law, only Marx really grasped the connotation of the negative law of negation from the essential height, and other philosophers generally did not rise to the essential height, but stayed on the surface appearance.
The connotation of the law of negation of negation
This paper will elaborate the important position of the law of negation in dialectics around the connotation of negation and the changing process of people's knowledge and understanding of negation. It is preliminarily formulated into five small topics, and the basic contents of each part are as follows:
The whole process of the negative law of negation: the center is to describe the development process of the negative law of negation as a whole.
The first stage: affirming the development process of the period: revealing its characteristics from the unity of essence and form to the separation.
The second stage: the development process of the negative period: revealing its characteristics from formal affirmation to complete negation.
The third stage: the characteristics of the second affirmation: show the characteristics of scientific dialectics, grasp the essence of the law through examples, and make this law based on solid materialism.
Fifthly, a comparative analysis is made from the sports level: it is mainly a comprehensive analysis of the cognitive process of the negative law of negation.
The logical relations of the above five topics are: first, a general description; Second, third and fourth, concrete analysis; Fifth, comprehensive analysis. That is, "overall description-specific analysis-comprehensive analysis" three levels. Obviously, such a logical structure completely conforms to the general law of dialectical logic.
Fourth, the whole process of the law of negation of negation.
summary
History sometimes plays jokes on people. As one of the three laws of dialectics, the process of negation of negation in the history of dialectics conforms to the essence of this law, which truly embodies the characteristics of "words and deeds are consistent, appearance is in harmony with spirit". In other words, in the history of philosophy, the law of negation of negation is characterized by negation of negation. Specifically, the whole development process has gone through the process of affirmation, negation and negation (affirmation), which is in line with the negative law of negation.
According to the characteristics of the development and change of the law of negation of negation, we will also follow the order of "affirmation, negation and negation of negation" when analyzing the three different stages of this law. These three stages are specifically divided as follows:
First, the affirmation stage, including the understanding of the law of negation by Theory of Three Represents's important figures: Hegel, Marx and Engels.
Second, the negative stage, which also includes the important figures in Theory of Three Represents: Lenin, Mao Zedong and Stalin's understanding of the negative law of negation.
The third is the negative stage of negation, which is our own understanding of the law of negation. Its characteristic is to re-establish the important position of the negative law of negation in dialectics through two examples: an abstract example and a concrete example.
Below we will describe the specific characteristics of the above three stages in the form of logical diagram:
Hegel: proposing law and interpreting law
The first stage ┼ Marx: Understanding and Applying the Law
Engels: summing up the law and explaining the law
Lenin: From Negative Law to Positive Law
The second stage ┼ Mao Zedong: From the law of recognition to the law of denial.
Stalin: Completely negating this law.
Abstract example: the dialectical movement process of "1+ 1"
The third stage ζ
Specific example: the whole process of social development
Everything in reality is contradictory, and it is a relationship of unity of opposites. Law as dialectics is no exception. When we divide the negative law of negation into essence and form, their respective contents are completely different. Among them, the essential aspect of this law includes two levels, while the formal aspect is the famous three-stage form. The details are as follows:
The first level: internal negation, which is manifested in the process of contradictory movement.
As its essence, it contains two levels of negative zeta.
The second level: external negation, which is the result of contradictory movement.
Its logic diagram is like this:
Contrary to the topic (first level: contradiction, movement process)
└—┬—┘
Combination topic (second level: the result of contradictory movement)
As a form, it shows three stages: theme-duality-combination, forming a logical relationship of denying one. Specifically, it is the process of two negatives or two parallel negatives.
From this point of view, the essence and form of the law of negation of negation are the relationship of unity of opposites, and the essence is the negation of two levels, with hierarchical relations in it; Form is two negative processes juxtaposed before and after, and there is no hierarchical relationship. From the level, they constitute the unity of opposites of "being" and "nothing" in essence and form.
As we know, the first person who put forward the law of negation of negation was Hegel, the master of dialectics. In his famous Logic, he expounded three laws of dialectics, among which the law of negation of negation was presented to people as the basic law of development and change.
The dialectical movement process of negation of verb (verb's abbreviation) negation
Marx's deep collar
Marx
I understand the connotation of the law of negation of negation put forward by Hegel, grasp this law from two aspects: essence and form, and directly apply it to the famous Das Kapital. The concept of "commodity-money-capital" formed a dialectical movement process of negation from the very beginning.
Engels first abstractly summarized three laws of dialectics from Hegel's logic, and he made the laws of dialectics clear. This is Engels' great contribution to philosophical theory. However, his understanding of the connotation of the negative law of negation is not high, because Engels grasped this law from the discourse structure of Hegel's logic, so his understanding of the negative law of negation did not rise to the essential height, but stayed in the form. Grasping the three-stage formula, ignoring the essence of the law of negation of negation: revealing the characteristics of contradictory movement process and movement result. In this way, Engels' understanding deviates from the real connotation of the law of negation of negation.
Lenin, in his youth, had a great antipathy to the syllogism model, thinking it was the legacy of Hegel, thus denying the existence of this law. Later, Lenin changed his point of view after careful study, so he applied it to the process of continuous development and put forward that the qualitative change movement has the characteristics of spiral rise. Obviously, Lenin also grasped the characteristics of the law of negation of negation in form.
Because the formal movement appears externally, it is the characteristic of unity or the movement of things themselves, while the essential movement goes deep into the two sides of contradiction. When Lenin grasped the negative law of negation from the perspective of the continuity of the development and change of things, the connotation of this law became the characteristic of the development and change of things, that is, spiraling up. From the epistemological point of view, it makes the connotation of this law drop from the essential height to its superficial form.
Stalin insisted on Lenin's early view that syllogism was a relic of Hegel, so he completely denied the existence of this law in philosophical theory.
When Mao Zedong first started writing philosophical works, he followed Engels' viewpoint and insisted that dialectics had three laws. Later, when discussing the relationship between the three laws of dialectics, Mao Zedong's viewpoint changed. First of all, he put forward the idea of replacing the law of negation with the law of affirmation and negation. Obviously, this is an attempt to unify the laws of dialectics in the process of development and change. Later, I simply returned to Stalin's position and thought that there was no law of negation of negation. After a period of repetition, Mao Zedong finally took the law of negation of negation and the law of quantitative change and qualitative change as philosophical categories, thus forming the theoretical viewpoint of "one method and many categories". Some scholars have grasped Mao Zedong's proposition that "the juxtaposition of the three laws is the theory of three elements" and called Mao Zedong's dialectics "monism dialectics".
Through the philosophical argument of "1+ 1", the dialectical operation formula is obtained, so that the law of negation of negation has the characteristics of two levels of negation. At the same time, by applying the philosophical proof of "1+ 1" to the theory of socialist political economy, the complete process of the development and change of human society is revealed. Therefore, the characteristics of the law of negation of negation are fully reflected through the abstract "1+ 1" and the whole process of concrete social development and change, which proves that this law does exist in reality in the form of concrete examples, thus reaffirming the important position of the law of negation of negation in dialectical theory.
The above is the course of the law of negation of negation in the history of philosophical development, which completely conforms to the characteristics of this law itself: the development and change process from affirmation and negation to negation of negation (affirmation). After the whole process of dialectical movement, it seems to have returned to the starting point in form, but it is qualitatively different from the understanding of the starting point in essence. When this law was first put forward, its connotation was not defined by scientific concepts. Through the development of negation of negation, the connotation of this law has a scientific concept, from a chaotic state without hierarchy to a clear state with hierarchical concepts. This is the characteristic of the law of negation of negation. Although the starting point and the ending point coincide, there is a qualitative leap between them. Through such a development and change process of negation of negation, people's understanding of the law of negation of negation itself will be promoted to a scientific level and an essential level. And this is exactly the purpose of my writing this article.
The first stage: the development process of affirmation period
From Unity of Essence and Form to Separation
The development process of the affirmative period includes the proposition of the law of negation of negation, the explanation and explanation of the content and provisions of this law, and people's understanding and understanding of it. At this stage, the development and change characteristics of the cognitive process are: from the unity of essence and form to the separation of the two. Specifically:
Hegel first put forward the law of negation of negation and expounded it in detail. Marx profoundly understood and grasped the essence and form of this law, and applied it flexibly to his theoretical work Das Kapital. Engels first revealed this law from Hegel's logic, but there was a split between essence and form in understanding, ignoring the essence of the law and falling into superficial form. This constitutes the characteristics of the development process in the affirmative period, from the identity of essence and form to the opposition between essence and form.
Hegel put forward and explained the law of negation of negation.
Hegel's dialectics has a distinctive feature, emphasizing the central role of negation in the contradictory movement. Therefore, some philosophers call it "negative dialectics" according to this feature of Hegel's dialectics. The following passage clearly reflects the characteristics of Hegel's dialectics. This is the content in Introduction to Hegel's Logic:
In order to strive for scientific progress-in order to basically try to have a very simple understanding of this matter-the only thing is to understand the following logical proposition, namely: negative things are also positive; In other words, the contradictory things are not dissolved into zero, but are basically only dissolved into the negation of their special contents; In other words, such negation is not a complete negation, but a negation of what is stipulated by itself, so it is a prescribed negation; Therefore, in the result, it essentially contains what the result comes from; -this is a tautology, because otherwise it is the direct thing, not the result. Because this thing that produces results, this negation is a prescribed negation, and it has content. It is a new concept, but it is higher and richer than the previous concept; Because it becomes richer, because it becomes the negation or opposition of the concept of antecedent, it contains the concept of antecedent, but it is more than the concept of antecedent, which is the unity of it and its opposition. Conceptual system is generally formed in this way, and it is completed in an unstoppable, pure and external process. (P36 Introduction to Logic)
What guides the concept forward is the negative thing mentioned above, which is owned by the concept itself; This negative thing constitutes a truly dialectical thing. (P38 Introduction to Logic)
Dialectical negation refers to the characteristics of essential movement.
It is not external formal negation or abstract negation, but self-negation and concrete negation. What is the specific negation? Quite simply, negation contains affirmation, not complete negation, but negation with positive factors, and the result of negation does not go up in smoke, but has new content and new form. This is the characteristic of dialectical negation.
Based on the characteristics of negative dialectics, Hegel put forward the viewpoint of negation of negation in the first part of Ontology. Please see the following Hegel's own exposition:
As a simple self-relationship, something is the first kind of negation of negation.
The unity of negation itself is the basis of all these provisions. However, here, the first negation, that is, the general negation, is certainly different from the second negation, that is, the negation of negation; The latter is concrete and absolute negation, while the former is only abstract negation.
There is something as a negation of negation; Therefore, the negation of negation is only the restoration of self-relationship; -but in this way, something will regard itself as its own intermediary. (P 109 "logic", chapter 2)
In this passage, Hegel clearly put forward the views of the first negation and the second negation, and analyzed them. The first negation belongs to abstract negation, and the second negation is concrete negation. The transition from abstract existence to concrete existence needs two negatives. It is this word that covers people's eyes. It makes Hegel fall from the essential height (indirectness) to the phenomenal level (directness) at the abstract level. It sets an obstacle for people to know and understand the negative law of negation in the future. Why do you say that? Because the first time and the second time belong to the sequential parallel relationship. However, there is a hierarchical relationship between the movement process and the movement result of both sides of the contradiction, and only through reflection can we grasp the progress from direct to indirect. Hegel's exposition here is an intuitive description, so he deviated from the provisions of rational dialectics when expressing the connotation of negation of negation.
Why did Hegel use two negations to express the connotation of negation of negation? This is the result of his idealistic theoretical foundation, which makes Hegel's dialectics incomplete. For the analysis of this problem, we will start when we explain the logic diagram below. Without the help of logic diagram, this highly abstract theoretical view is difficult to understand.
Because Hegel's argument is abstract, we need to annotate it. According to our knowledge and understanding, Hegel explained the dialectical movement process from pure existence to real existence. He called this process the first negative negation.
Among them, the formal logic diagram is as follows: yes-no-yes.
The basic logic diagram is as follows:
Being or not (first-level negation, abstract negation, in the form of "nothing" and "being") is the first-level negation.
└—┬—┘
Real existence
(something) (the second negation, concrete negation, in the unified form of "being and not being") The second negation.
According to the essential logic diagram, let's explain the first and second negative questions. From this logical diagram, people can see that Hegel's first negation is "nothing" and "existence", which is an abstract negation. Why is it abstract negation? Because "you" and "nothing" at this time are purely abstract concepts with no specific content. For an abstract concept without any stipulation, its negative form is naturally abstract.
The second negation is concrete negation.
People will question this: why does abstract negation become concrete negation here? Hegel's concreteness refers to the contradictory movement of "being" and "not being". Abstract negation is negation without contradictory movement, while concrete negation is negation with contradictory movement. The difference between abstract and concrete here lies in the existence of contradictory movement. The negation without contradictory movement is the abstract negation. The negation of contradictory movement is concrete negation.
From the first negation to the second negation
This is a complete development process. However, this development process is essentially different from the actual development and change process. The process of realistic development and change shows that both sides of the contradiction exist at the same time, not one side of the contradiction comes first. Grasping the identity of two contradictory parties is the theoretical basis of materialism, and the viewpoint that one contradictory party exists first and then produces the other is the theoretical basis of idealism. On this point, we have made a detailed argument in On the Duality of Classical Stereo Mode, so we won't discuss it here.
Hegel's idealism is reflected in separating the identity of both sides of the contradiction. If he established the relationship between the two sides of the contradiction on the same basis, he would not use the concept of "second sex" to express the whole process of negation of negation. At this time, because "you" and "nothing" are integrated, only one-level negation and two-level negation can be used to express the unity of opposites between the exercise process and the exercise result. In this way, the law of negation of negation completely conforms to the development process of objective contradictory movement.
On the surface, there is only one word difference between "times" and "layers", but they embody two different ideological lines. It is precisely because Hegel's exposition is based on the separation, opposition and unity of "being" and "nothing" that the unity of opposites is destroyed. When he talked about the specific contradictory movement, he had a contradiction with this separation view that existed in the theoretical basis. This is clear as long as people see Hegel's later concrete explanation of negation of negation. His specific explanation is completely different from the point of view here.
result
There, the first negation is the contradictory movement, and the second negation is the result of contradiction resolution. There is no difference between the two negatives, which are no longer the relationship between abstract negation and concrete negation, but unified into concrete negation, one is the movement process of concrete negation, and the other is the movement result of concrete negation. Here, the first negation is the production of contradiction, and the second negation is the result of contradictory movement. The contradictory movement process in the middle disappeared. This is the concrete manifestation of incompleteness in Hegel's dialectics. One is the production and result of contradiction, and the other is the process and result of contradictory movement. There is only a little difference, and a little carelessness will be ignored. It is this subtle difference that exposes the fatal flaw of Hegel's idealistic dialectics, and it is impossible to carry out dialectics from beginning to end.
Dialectics is the art of applying concepts, and the accurate application of each concept is the primary premise of scientific theory. Because the movement itself is a contradiction, it is absolutely impossible to grasp the contradiction without a clear concept.