[introduction.]
Before discussing the law of the unity and conflict of opposites as such, let us see how Marxist-Leninist dialectics understands “opposites”, the “unity” of opposites.
The Unity of Opposites
p All of us have used an ordinary magnet at one time or another and we know that its main feature is that it has a 81 north and a south poles which are mutually exclusive and at the same time interconnected. However hard we try to separate the north pole of a magnet from the south pole, we shall not succeed. Even if it is divided into two, four, eight or more parts a magnet will still possess the same two poles.
p Opposites are, then, the internal sides, tendencies, forces of an object, which are mutually exclusive but at the same time presuppose each other. The inseverable interconnection of these sides makes up the unity of opposites.
p All objects and phenomena have contradictory sides which are organically connected, make up the indissoluble unity of opposites. In the centre of the atom there is the positively charged nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons. The chemical process is a contradictory unity of association and dissociation of atoms.
p There are opposites in living organisms as well. Recall the opposite processes of assimilation and dissimilation which constitute the process of metabolism inherent in living matter. In addition, organisms also have such intrinsic contradictory properties as heredity and adaptability. Heredity is the tendency of the organism to preserve hereditarily acquired characteristics; adaptability, on the other hand, is the ability to develop new characteristics corresponding to the changed conditions.
p Man’s mental activity is marked by the opposite processes of excitation and inhibition, concentration and irradiation of excitation in the cortex of the cerebral hemispheres.
p Societies dominated by private property relations have opposite classes—the slaves and slave-owners in slave society; the serfs and feudal lords under feudalism, the proletariat and bourgeoisie under capitalism.
p Contradictory sides are also inherent in the process of knowledge. Man employs such opposite and interconnected methods of study as induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis, etc.
p Contradictoriness of objects and phenomena of the world is thus of a general, universal nature. There is no object or phenomenon in the world which could not be divided into opposites.
p Opposites are not only mutually exclusive, but also necessarily presuppose each other. They coexist in one object or phenomenon and are inconceivable one without 82 the other. We have already mentioned the inseverable unity of the opposite poles of a magnet. Similarly inseparable are assimilation and dissimilation in living organisms, and analysis and synthesis in the process of knowledge. Capitalist society is impossible without opposite classes—the proletariat and bourgeoisie. As long as capitalism lasts, the worker is forced to hire himself out to the capitalist, and the capitalist always tries to exploit the worker to the maximum.
“And it is just as impossible to have one side of contradiction without the other,” Engels wrote, “as it is to retain the whole of an apple in one’s hand after half has been eaten.” [82•*
The Conflict of Opposites Is the Source of Development
p And so, objects and phenomena are a unity of opposites. What is the character of this unity? Do opposites peacefully coexist in this unity or do they enter into contradiction, into struggle with each other?
p The development of the most diverse objects and phenomena shows that opposite sides cannot coexist peacefully in one object: the contradictory, mutually exclusive character of opposites necessarily causes a struggle between them. The old and the new, the emergent and the obsolete must come into contradiction, must clash. It is contradiction, the conflict of opposites that is the main source of development of matter and consciousness. “Development is the ‘struggle’ of opposites,” wrote Lenin. [82•** He stressed that this conflict is absolute, just as development or motion is absolute.
p The proposition that the conflict of opposites is decisive in development in no way belittles the importance of their unity. The unity of opposites is a necessary condition of the conflict, because it takes place only where opposite sides exist in one object or phenomenon.
p Lenin pointed out that a state of temporary equilibrium too could exist between opposites; this means that, at a certain stage in the development of a process, neither side predominates.
83p In any process the equilibrium of opposites is relative because, if it were constant, eternal, there would be no development in the world at all. Conflict alone is the source, the driving force of development.
p Many modern bourgeois philosophers distort the revolutionary essence of the core of Marxist dialectics by regarding the equilibrium of opposites as absolute and by denying the conflict of opposites. They see the main thing not in the conflict of opposites, but in their reconciliation, their equilibrium. Thereby, bourgeois ideologists, in fulfilment of the instructions of the capitalists, endeavour to perpetuate capitalist society, reconcile the interests of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat and in this way divert the people from the struggle for socialism, from striving to resolve the profound contradictions of capitalism by revolution.
p In reality, however, it is impossible to reconcile class contradictions; this is convincingly shown by the entire history of mankind, and by the revolutionary struggle of the working class.
p The history of science and of society proves that the conflict of opposites is the source of development. Yet we must bear in mind that in different spheres of material world this conflict is manifested in different ways.
p The conflict (interaction) of such opposite forces as attraction and repulsion is prevalent in inorganic nature. The interaction of mechanical, electrical and nuclear forces of attraction and repulsion plays a very great part in the rise and existence of atomic nuclei, atoms and molecules. The conflict of these forces, as modern cosmogonic theories show, was the most important source in the birth of the solar system.
p Modern astronomy has also demonstrated that the interaction of forces of attraction and repulsion is one of the important sources of the diverse processes taking place in outer space. No absolute balance of these forces exists in the various areas of the Universe: one force always prevails over the other. Where repulsion predominates, matter and energy are dispersed and stars die. Where attraction predominates, matter and energy are concentrated and as a result new stars are born. Matter and energy thus move eternally in the Cosmos in the course of the conflict, interaction of these opposite forces.
84p We have pointed out earlier that opposite processes of assimilation and dissimilation are inherent in living organisms. It is their conflict, interaction that constitutes the specific source of development of everything living. These opposite processes cannot be in a state of absolute equilibrium; one of them must prevail. In a young organism assimilation gains ascendancy over dissimilation and determines its growth, development. When dissimilation prevails the organism grows old and deteriorates. In all organisms, however, young or old, these processes interact. It is their interaction, contradiction that makes up life. When this contradiction ends, life ceases.
p Social development also proceeds on the basis of the unity and conflict of opposites. Contradictions in material production, especially between productive forces and relations of production, are particularly important among the contradictions of social development. In antagonistic class societies the contradiction between productive forces and relations of production is expressed in the conflict between hostile classes, which leads to social revolution, to replacement of the old social system by the new.
p And so, objects and phenomena have opposite sides, they represent the unity of opposites. Opposites not merely exist side by side, but are in a state of constant contradiction, conflict between themselves. The conflict of opposites is the inner content, the source of development of reality.
Such is the essence of the dialectical law of the unity and conflict of opposites.