Basic Principles of Dialectical Logic

The principle of integrating theory with practice, the principle of dialectical unity of opposites, the principle of consistency between logic and history, etc. Differing from the logic of old materialism, dialectical logic has reached the unity of epistemology and logic on the basis of practice. It not only lies in understanding the world, but also, more importantly, in reforming the world, and in understanding, testing and developing truth in practice. Dialectical logic adheres to the basic principle of integrating theory with practice, which is the fundamental requirement of Marxist philosophy. The dialectical logic of Marxist philosophy is not an abstract theory divorced from reality, it comes from human social practice. Marx pointed out that all social life is practical in nature. Anything mysterious that leads theory to mysticism can be reasonably solved in human practice and understanding of this practice. Philosophers just explain the world in different ways. The problem is to change the world. Whether people’s thinking has objective truth is not a theoretical problem, but a practical problem. People can only know the truth, test the truth and develop the truth in practice. While people understand and transform the objective world, their logical thinking ability has also been developed accordingly. Adhering to the scientific path of materialism is the way to this truth.

Dialectical logic adheres to the basic principle of dialectical unity of opposites and is the concrete embodiment of carrying out materialist dialectics. Materialist dialectics is the theory about the contradictory movement of things. Contradiction is the unity of opposites, and the law of contradiction is the essence and core of dialectics. Lenin pointed out that dialectics can be briefly defined as the theory of unity of opposites. In this way, the core of dialectics will be grasped, but this needs to be explained and brought into play. Dialectical logic requires us to deeply study the contradictory movement of things, look at problems from a linked, developed and comprehensive point of view, insist on concrete analysis of specific problems, and scientifically grasp the objective laws of things.

Adhering to the basic principle of the unity of logic and history is the embodiment of the methodology of historical materialism. “Historical” refers not only to the historical process of the development of objective things themselves, but also to the historical process of the development of human understanding of objective things. “Logical” refers to the reflection and generalization of historical development process in rational thinking through concepts, judgments, reasoning and other forms of thinking, and is the representation of historical things in rational thinking. “The unity of logic and history” means that the logical process of thinking or theory should be consistent with the actual historical process of the development of objective things and with the history of human understanding and development. Logical and historical is a process of dialectical unity. In the history of philosophy, Hegel was the first to put forward that what is logical is consistent with what is historical. He argued that logic is the foundation of history, and what is historical is only the representation of logic, reversing the relationship between the two. Classical Marxist writers criticized Hegel’s idealism, which is the unity of logic and history, and transformed it into the scientific methodology principle of dialectical logic. Engels said that where history starts, the ideological process should also start, and the further development of the ideological process is only an abstract and consistent reflection of the historical process in theory. This kind of reflection is corrected, but it is corrected according to the laws of the actual historical process itself. At this time, each element can be examined at its fully mature and typical development point. The unity of logic and history is the unity on the general development trend and the unity containing differences. History not only moves forward in leaps and bounds and twists and turns, but also includes countless details and accidental factors. Logic sets aside various accidental factors of historical development and grasps the basic process and objective laws of historical development in a “pure” theoretical form.

Adhering to the methodological principle of integrating logic with history requires that the dialectical relationship between the two should be correctly handled in scientific research. The so-called historical method is a thinking method that follows the historical clues and development process of objective things, grasps their internal relations and reveals their development laws. The so-called logical method is a thinking method that starts from the most basic relationship and reveals the essence and law of the historical development of objective things in the form of theoretical thinking through a series of concepts, judgments and reasoning. The logical method can reflect the essence and law of historical process more profoundly than the description of all-encompassing historical phenomena. Logical method and historical method are different from each other, but they are interrelated and inseparable. The method divorced from logic cannot reveal the essence and law of the development of objective things. Methods divorced from history will inevitably lead to theories divorced from reality and fall into empty and abstract conceptual deduction, which also cannot reveal the nature and laws of the development of objective things.