WHOM ARE THE DIALECTICAL MATERIALISTS
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels are known as the dialectical materialists. Karl Marx possessed a multi-dimensional personality; he was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist and (mostly) revolutionary socialist. Born into a wealthy middle class family, Marx studied at both the University of Bonn and the University of Berlin, where he became interested in the philosophical ideas of the young Hegelians. After his studies, he wrote for a radical newspaper “Rheinische Zeitung” in the Prussian city of cologne and began to gradually work out his theory of dialectical materialism.
He met Friedrich Engels in Paris, and they began to collaborate in writing, on a series of books. Exiled to Brussels, he became a leading figure of the communist league. Marx’s theories about society, economics and politics are collectively known as Marxism. It holds that all societies progress via the dialectic of class struggle. Marx was a strong critic of the current socio-economic form of society, capitalism, which he called the “dictatorship of the bourgeoisie”. He believed it was a system run by the wealthy middle and upper classes of society purely for their own benefit. He also predicted that like previous socioeconomic systems, it would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its self destruction and replacement by a new system called socialism.
Under socialism, he argued that society would be governed by the working class in what he called the “dictatorship of the proletariat”. This entailed a workers state or democracy. He believed that socialism would in its turn, eventually be replaced by a stateless, classless society called pure communism. However, Marx supported by Engels, fought actively for the implementation of socialism. He did this by campaigning vigorously; enlightening social activists and underprivileged people to carry out an organised revolutionary action to overthrow capitalism and institute socialism, thereby bringing about social-economic and political change.
THE CONCEPT OF DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM
In getting an idea of what dialectical materialism is about, a good starting point is to follow the traditional way. Thus, we would begin by explaining the concept of dialectics, then materialism and then dialectical materialism;
· What is dialectics
Dialectics is a philosophical maxim which emphasizes the principle of change, constant motion and development as regarding the material world. It is a mode of reasoning which is concerned with the analysis of how material and concrete things move, change, and blend in with their opposites. Dialectics sees reality from a general and wide perspective and never from a single side. Thus, as regarding change, it believes that in any interconnected system, one thing cannot be changed without changing the whole system. So, whenever change occurs or wants to occur, it does so in a general sense and not only in a specific area. Lastly, Engels popularly defines dialectics as “the science of the general laws of motion and development of nature, human society and thought”.
· What is materialism
Everything that exists in reality is either material (matter) or spiritual (ideal). Thus, there is the fundamental question or problem in philosophy which is “how does consciousness relate to being; the ideal to matter”? Materialism as a brand of metaphysics in philosophy does not deny that the ideal ever exists. However, it specifically asserts that the ideal depends on the material, as it is a stage in the progressive development of matter. A good example is the fact that, the human brain which is the organ of thought and consciousness (the ideal) is made up of matter which developed gradually via various phases of evolution to what it is now. Matter is not a product of consciousness, but consciousness itself is the highest product of matter as ideas are simply a reflection of the independent and objective material world that surrounds us. In essence, materialism sees the world as it really is, taking matter as the primary determinant of existence. It upholds that matter must be given a first-hand priority and the ideal must not be allowed to regulate, suppress or control matter, like what is the case in religion.
· What is dialectical materialism
Friedrich Engels in his book dialectics of nature defined dialectical materialism. In a nutshell, what Engels is saying is that, dialectical materialism is a process in which dynamic change of all being (matter) is a normal activity and permanence is impossible and alien. It is a process that has always been in existence and will surely continue till infinity. Although it is true that other sciences study the laws guiding the development of the material world, it is only in a particular sphere of reality e.g. astronomy. On the other hand, dialectical materialism studies the general laws (of motion and change) which operate in all spheres of reality, unlike the individual sciences which study particular laws. Thus, dialectical materialism is ontological in nature in that it studies the most general laws that operate in all spheres of existence and reality.
Lastly, dialectical materialism is basically used by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels to expose the lies of the bourgeoisie that ours will always be (permanence) a capitalist society. Considering the dialectical materialist principle that change is an inherent part of the nature of matter, since society entails matter, it is inevitably sure that the capitalist society will at a certain stage surely give way to socialism and modern communism. Dialectical materialism is a means of changing and transforming the world. It is a pragmatic philosophy of which its principles must be studied and understood in order to learn how its laws operate.
HOW PHILOSOPHICAL IS DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM
Philosophy as a discipline has some consensus definitions which arose as a result of prescribing a solution to its definition problem. Each of these consensus definitions focus on one or more core areas or issues which philosophy as a universal discipline deals with. Of all these consensus definitions, one of them plays a high relevance in Marxism. This is the definition of philosophy as the concern with the problems of human existence. Dialectical materialism- the philosophy of Marxism is highly pragmatic in the sense that it aims at eliminating the socio-economic problem of exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie which is plaguing the present capitalist human society. Thus, it is clear that dialectical materialism is purely philosophical and in a materialistic-pragmatic sense.
